AN activist group has slammed the use of exotic animals in a circus that began at Broadmeadow on Thursday, but the show’s ringmaster says the group’s claims of animal torture were “outright lies.”
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A spokesperson for the People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said they were questioning why state legislators had chosen to overrule a local council ban on acts involving exotic animals by allowing the Stardust Circus shows to go ahead.
“It’s been more than a decade since Newcastle banned circuses travelling with exotic animals,” PETA Australia press officer Laura Weyman-Jones.
“But it seems Stardust have bypassed the council’s wishes and set up on state government land at McDonald Jones Stadium.”
Ms Weyman-Jones said PETA believed the animals would “never naturally engage” in circus stunts without the constant threat of punishment.
But the circus ringmaster Adam St James said their animals – which include lions, monkeys, ponies, goats, dogs and pigs – were “part of their family” and in “beautiful condition.”
The animals were trained through positive reinforcement, with the “food for reward” method. The lions’ night quarters and transport trailers had reverse cycle air-conditioning, and the animals had access to their enclosures from early in the morning until late at night.
“The claims PETA make are absolutely outrageous,” he said. “If we did half the stuff they claimed we did, we would be out of business and closed down.
“The ban in place in Newcastle is the council owned and operated land, and McDonald Jones Stadium is not owned or operated by the council.”
Mr St James said if PETA had “done their homework” they would know there was a strict code of practice for exhibiting animals in Australia to which they adhered.
“That stipulates what we can and cannot do, it stipulates the size of animal yards, how long the animals can be transported, it stipulates the training methods of the animals.
“The animals don’t do anything in our show that they couldn’t do in the wild. We just get them to do it on the command for food. Jumping through rings of fire was outlawed 20 years ago.
“I would like to think the people of Newcastle can see and decide for themselves.”
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said a ban on acts using exotic animals within the council area had been in place since 1994.
He said a condition of the council’s DA approval for the temporary event was that it complied with the NSW Standards for Exhibiting Circus Animals.
“NSW Department of Primary Industries is the appropriate regulatory authority if there is an allegation that those standards are being breached,” he said.
The spokesperson said their park bookings policy said circus acts were permissible on council land provided the circus did not use exotic animals.