Ban animals in circuses, says govt body; owners cry foul - Firstpost

India's statutory animal advisory board, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), last week recommended a ban on the use of all kinds of animals in circuses. After the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) mandated the AWBI to conduct an investigation on the living conditions of elephants and other animals in circuses, the AWBI recommended the ban at a meeting last week. The investigating team, which consisted of activists from PETA India and Animal Rahat, carried out investigations across 16 major circuses between November 2012 and July 2013. The AWBI also suggested to the Central Zoo Authority, which comes under MoEF, to disallow any new animal acts in existing circuses and new circuses that used animals. "Condition of animals in most of the circuses is pathetic. They have no veterinary doctors. Animals are kept in small cages. Wings of birds are clipped. Animals are beaten regularly. The environment is cruel to animals," S Chinny Krishna, vice chairman of AWBI told Deccan Herald. An acrobat performs on a ring held by an elephant during a show at the Rambo Circus in Mumbai. Reuters According to the Indian Express, Environment Ministry officials said that the ministry was open to the idea, but practical problems needed to be taken into account. "While it is easy to ban the use of animals in circuses, what happens next is the question. How do you rehabilitate so many animals which are now incapable of surviving in the wild? Government rescue shelters are already overcrowded," a senior official told the Indian Express. He also said that a committee to examine rehabilitation issues had been setup. A four-member inspection team comprising three veterinary doctors visited 16 licensed circuses to check the condition of animals and reported that as many as 15 circuses were using animals. The AWBI investigation report slammed the circuses for inflicting "physical and psychological abuse" on elephants and ignoring animal protection laws. It cited instances of elephants dying of anorexia, dehydration and infections. PETA talks about some of the issues on their website. However, circus owners have cried foul. They say that if the recommendations are enforced many families will lose their livelihood. They also say that an investigation team which has PETA activists will be naturally biased. Rambo Circus owner Sujit Dilip told the Indian Express that after the previous ban — where wild animals like tigers and lions were banned from circuses a decade ago — authorities had packed off wild animals to zoos, where they died.  Ajay Shankar, a management official from Gemini Circus told Deccan Herald: "None of the PETA people came to our circuses. In any case PETA investigation will be biased as they are against use of animals everywhere." via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEGxvW3_NvslgMg4xVgFQPIgNBaeQ&url=http://www.firstpost.com/india/ban-animals-in-circuses-says-govt-body-owners-cry-foul-1087399.html

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