Perth City Council
Bans Circuses

February 26th 2003

At the Perth City Council meeting, the motion to change the councils SU26 Policy on circuses was passed by 5 votes to 4. This was after an alternative motion was put forward and rejected to have circuses stop using animals by "natural attrition" (ie when the animals eventually die, they would not be replaced).

The motion was based on the question as to whether PCC should allow circuses to have shows with exotic animals perform in the City of Perth to reflect changing community attitudes. The councillors each had meetings with Circus representatives in the past week and were given misleading & irrelevant information. This resulted in the alternative motion being put forward and a change in the style of debate.

Debate against banning the circus was then based on what would happen to the animals if circuses couldn't use them anymore, centering mainly on the fact that it would be just as cruel to release them back into the wild. No animal welfare group had suggested that they be released into the wild, in fact all have said that they should be released into sanctuaries and free range zoos when it reaches such a time that circuses are no longer able to use animals at all within Australia.

The question of banning the circus was about whether Perth City Council should continue to allow circuses using theses animal access to the city in the future. The voted showed that the City of Perth does not support the use of exotic animals in circuses and that these circuses are not welcome.

Please contact the City of Perth and express your gratitude that they have made a positive decision to the benefit of animals. This decision will have major implications for other councils and it is hoped more will follow the lead of the City of Perth. The banning Australia wide would not happen overnight, but it will happen eventually and by that time it would be expected that suitable retirement places would be available for all the animals used in circuses.

Please thank the councillors for their compassion and wisdom. Click here for contact details of PCC

History of campaign below:

Tuesday 10th Dec 2002 - Perth City Council has dumped its support for circuses with animals and called on other councils to do the same. Councillors voted 8 - 1 against the application from Janlin Circuses (Stardust) to setup in Wellington Square in April and July 2003. All activists were urged to continue our work until all councils ban circuses that use animals - see story  |  read RSPCA Circus Issue

Perth City Councillor Bert Tudori was interviewed on radio 6PR 880 on Tuedsay 21st January at 8.45pm. He commented on Perth City Councils decision and the letter from Rue McClanahan (from the TV show "The Golden Girls") praising the council for its decision. He also stated the council was amazed at the volume of faxes & emails they were receiving from America, Great Britain, New Zealand, Africa and other countries around the world congratulating them.

Remember that many councils will be re-visiting their policies during February, so we really need to keep the issue in the public eye.Perth City Council will not be voting on a ban on January 28th as hoped, however the motion to ban is on the agenda for two weeks after. So we are looking at TUESDAY 11TH FEB 6pm in the council chambers Perth City.

Late news Monday 10th Feb - Stardust Circus have demanded to be given the chance to present their case and Mayor Peter Nattrass thinks it is a good idea. So no vote will happen on 11th Feb, it has been pulled off the agenda till 25th Feb. The circus have till the 18th to present themselves, then the notice for the motion will be in place with the intent to ban. However the circus will pull all stops to change peoples minds. If you can please write and ring, but always be polite, remember the vote was 8 to 1 against the circus coming to town: Clr Judy McEvoy, Clr Lisa Scaffidi and Clr Michael Sutherland to ensure we keep their support. Click here for contact details of PCC

Animal Liberation welcomes the assistance of specialist campaign groups such as CircusWatch WA.
Please note: CircusWatchWA is a seperate organisation from Animal Liberation (WA) Inc - please do not contact CircusWatch WA for matters other than circus issues.

Click here Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand for further information on Asian Elephants.