RAGE IN A CAGE

MCLAREN Circus owner David McLaren insists he is an animal lover as protests rage against his show. 

Animal rights group Beauty Without Cruelty have planned protest at the circus on the Woodbridge Island common and are calling for a ban on the captivity of wild animals such as tigers and lions.

They said the McLaren Circus features wild and domestic animals including white lions, Bengal tigers, camels, llamas, ponies, poodles, and snakes used for performance under unnatural, stressful, and confining conditions. 

These animals are subjected to constant transportation, small cages and confinement, loud music, bright lights, and disorientation and training that often involves coercion and lack of natural environments and stimulation

While both CapeNature and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA confirmed that McLaren was in possession of all necessary permits and that routine checks were done regularly, he has spoken out in defence of his treatment of his animals and show.

He says: “The narrative that they are just in these cages and that is it and people think camels are sitting here being chained and tethered down and they think the lions are boxed the whole day, the picture that is being painted, when you take a tour with me, you will see something else.

“Yes, they are in confinement but it's not what the animal activists are telling you.

“We have a bond with our animals.

“We cannot argue the fact that there is confinement. Any body who has placed a lion into confinement has messed with the natural thing.

“I own a lion park, there we have a bigger enclosure than the travelling one.

“We had people complain about them in the wild, you cannot place an animal that has been in captivity into the wild, they will die after a week as they will have to fight for survival.

“All my animals came from captivity. I did not go into Kruger Park and hunted for them, and placed them into captivity.

“When these animals are done here at the circus like my oldest camel which is 19, he has gone into retirement, I own a farm next to my zoo.

Belinda Abraham of the SPCA said: “ The SPCA stands opposed to the use of wild animals in circuses but unfortunately it is not illegal unless contraventions of the Animals Protection Act No.71 of 1962 or the Performing Animals Protection Act are apparent at the time of an SPCA Inspection.”