Hundreds of circus performers concerned about their livelihoods marched Thursday to protest new laws that prohibit animals in circus acts in the Guadalajara municipal area. City councilors on Monday voted 16-5 in favor of banning animals in circuses.
The protestors donned clown costumes and performed juggling and acrobatic tricks as they made their way from La Normal traffic circle to Guadalajara City Hall and the State Congress building. Two eye-catching fiberglass elephants stood astride flatbed trucks, garnering the colorful procession plenty of attention.
After mounting public pressure by civic groups, Guadalajara finally followed the lead of Zapopan, whose councilors banned circus animals last year.
From now on, traveling circuses that come to Guadalajara will be asked to verify that their shows do not include animals.
Present in the council chamber for Monday’s vote were representatives of several NGOs, including Igualdad Animal and Adopta Guadalajara, whose members broke out in applause as the result was announced.
The regulation also allows civil associations, as well as municipal officials, the right to carry out spot check on circuses to ensure they are following the regulations.
Ignoring the municipal ordinance can result in fines of up to 60,000 pesos and the confiscation of the animals involved.
Armando Gaona, a spokesman for several locally based circuses, including Ayala, Las Fuentes Gasca, Union, Gaona and Osorio, acknowledged that animal abuses have occurred in “isolated instances and have been sanctioned but we can’t permit that all circuses are punished for the acts of a few.”
Because most circus animals are raised domestically and are not wild, the task of finding them new homes can be tricky.
According to Monica Lepe Aguilar, a spokesperson for Justice and Dignity for Animals, one option is to send large cats to sanctuaries in the United States that have plenty of space. Reports this week revealed that a mistreated lion from the Circo del Guapísimo Tarzán that was rescued in March 2013 after being hidden from authorities on a ranch in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, will soon be transferred to a U.S. sanctuary (see photo below).