Circus owners to complain about NGOs' 'harassment'

MUMBAI: The Circus Federation of India, the apex body of the 150-odd circuses in India, has decided to approach Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, former prime minister Chandrashekhar and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, regarding the alleged harassment of circus owners by "self-proclaimed" animal lovers and NGOs.
This was stated by Sujit Chakravorty, partner of the Empire Circus currently showing at Churchgate, on Saturday.The erstwhile minister for environment Maneka Gandhi,who is an animal rights activist, had taken stringent steps to prevent the illtreatment of animals in circuses and had also issued a notification in 1998 banning the performance of tigers, lions, panthers, bears and monkeys.
The notification also said that no other animal could perform without getting registered with the Animal Welfare Board, a statutory body under the ministry of environment and forests.
Circus owners are agitated over the process of registration of animals which they say is merely a moneygenerating gimmick. S.M. Chaturvedi, counsel for CFI, said "The government said it wanted to maintain a record of every animal in a circus but they are charging a fee of Rs 500 per animal. As a result, the circus owners ended up paying lakhs of rupees for every bird or horse they kept."
Mr Chakravorty said the law should penalise the guilty but at the same time it should also take care of the circus industry considering its 145-year-old history.
"The circus industry employed 50,000 persons and cared for about 1,000 tigers and lions. Instead of having a constructive approach the authorities are summarily asking us not to have animals. We cannot survive without our animals," he said.
"By framing arbitrary rules, the government has unleashed these animal lobbyists at us. Such is the extent of fear created by these lobbyists that the management of a prominent circus chose not to bring any animal to Mumbai for its shows," he said.
He recalled the furore generated when some animal lovers alleged that Jumbo Circus which was performing in Patiala had a blind hippo.
"It later turned out that the animal had cataract," he said. "The government failed to understand that our animals are not wild. They are born and brought up in the circus. They cannot even hunt if they are released into the forests," he said.
"A lion ate 20 kilos of meat a day. An elephant consumed 50 kilos of sugarcane a day. Do our zoos have the money to properly feed the animals sent by circuses?" he asked.
"Ms Gandhi had set up sanctuaries where she wanted us to release our animals. But how can we give up our animals without getting any compensation ?" he asked. Incidentally, the CFI''s petition for compensation is pending before the supreme court.
Animal lovers, however, strongly argue that animals, no matter where they are born and bred, are not meant to entertain human beings. Anuradha Sawhney of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, however, strongly argued in favour of animal care.
"Circus owners frequently flout rules and treat animals in the worst possible way."