TEN DAYS WITH THE CIRCUS

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 478.

At Eastbourne the circus was excluded from town sites by the council. At Crowbridge and Tonbridge it was picketed by Animal Rights activists. I read their leaflets and I thought about the issue, and I was free to wander around the entire site for more than a week. I never saw one animal being mistreated, neglected or harshly-trained. Not once.

The five Bengal tigers are the cream of the show. They are moved first, and settled earliest. They are fed with the best of food – if you like oxheads, that is, and they do. They are cleaned, watered, meticulously cared for. And they are trained carefully, gently, repeatedly. Because no one/least of all someone who is locked into a cage with five of them, wants an evil-tempered tiger.

The lions are something else. Martin Lacey and his lions rub heads together in the ring - and outside it, when no one is watching. The lions spend their days in a typical leonine doze awakened only briefly for exercise in the ring, which is more than a typical zoo animal would get. They lead the life of Riley: and they look well on it.

The circus elephant is Rani, and Robert is her trainer. The two are virtually inseparable. If you want to find Robert, you go and stand by his elephant; you don't bother going to his wagon. He'll be with Rani in a few moments.

One cannot criticise the treatment of animals at this circus. The worst thing you could say is that they may, in their private opinion, be discontented. This seems to me a tricky point.

They may indeed be wishing themselves back in the zoos which sold them as a surplus to requirements – no, none of them were snatched from the wide open spaces. But we cannot know for certain. One could equally claim that they love the life, or that nothing will satisfy them until they can read Schiller in the original. Who knows? But while we eat meat, and wear leather and wool, cows, sheep, pigs, hens and dogs are going to-work for people. Why not well-treated exotic animals too?

We can never know what an animal is thinking; but if I were one of the ponies, I would know I had it jammy. Compared with the average child's pony, or worse a busy riding stable hack, these little ones have their hooves up for half the day and work only twice in two ten minute shows and one training session daily. I have yet to see one of them raise more than a light sweat.

I was half-knackered, though. For that is it. There is cruelty in the circus. It is extremely hard on people. It is a hard, intermittently dangerous life, with a regular score of little mishaps. While we were visiting, April's luck was out. On the second day she cut her foot while practising in the ring. For the rest of the week she hopped and hobbled, doing as much work as she possibly could on one foot. Stitches out, she was leading the palomino stallion into the stable when he threw his head up and knocked out two of her bottom teeth. She was sobbing on the steps oh her wagon during the interval, but in the second half she was in the ring with the juggling act. The only sign she gave was that she kept her bruised lip shut when she smiled. And her eye make-up was a bit smudged from the tears.

Philippa Gregory The Guardian

B Are the following statements true or false?

1. The circus was not allowed to perform in three towns.

2. The circus distributes leaflets about its activities.

3. The tigers are the first animals to arrive on a new site.

4. Mr Lacey rubs the lions' heads together.

5. The lions sleep most of the time.

6. Most of the animals were purchased from zoos.

7. Most of the circus animals, although well-looked after, are discontented.

8. The writer thinks that you can't criticise the use of animals in circuses if you eat meat.

9. The writer thinks that the ponies would have a better life if they belonged to children.

10. During the day the ponies practise standing on their hind legs.

11. April had two accidents in one week.

12. April was not in a lot of pain.