Courtney Bros. circus.

dark crystal

So the circus is back in town and was thinking of taking the little fella this weekend. However, the flyers seem to indicate that this circus is more of an animal-based show, rather than trapeze, acrobatics type one.

Aside from a slight uncomfortableness around the treatment of animals in circuses, I'm not sure if a show primarily based around animal tricks will hold a three-year-old's attention as much as the more traditional, variety based kind of circus.

Jut wondering if anyone else was planning to go tonight and if so, could ye report back and let me know what you thought? Going to the circus can be a costly enough outing, so any thoughts on what ye thought of the show would be great.

S28382

My youngfella (11) went to it in KK a few weeks ago and he said it was crap. Apparently the animals are only brought out for a second and then are brought back in and the rest is supposedly boring.

freewheeler

I would urge everyone not to support any circus which uses animals as part of their act...its high time this outdated and cruel practice was consigned to history where it belongs! It surely can't be right that these beautiful exotic animals need to be dragged all around the country in lorries and forced to perform "tricks" for our amusement? Not to mention the blatant cruelty inflicted on the animals to train them to 'perform'. Please do the animals a favour and dont support any circus which includes animals as part of their act :mad:;)

marlin vs

freewheeler wrote: »

I would urge everyone not to support any circus which uses animals as part of their act...its high time this outdated and cruel practice was consigned to history where it belongs! It surely can't be right that these beautiful exotic animals need to be dragged all around the country in lorries and forced to perform "tricks" for our amusement? Not to mention the blatant cruelty inflicted on the animals to train them to 'perform'. Please do the animals a favour and dont support any circus which includes animals as part of their act :mad:;)

Are you insinuating the Courtney Brothers are treating their animals cruelly ?

freewheeler

I believe that the methods used to train circus animals are cruel and also that imo shipping them around the country and marching them through cities and towns are not in the best interests of the animals.
I would also suggest that the countless incidents of elephants etc breaking free and running amok in large urban centres are not the actions of animals who are in a happy place. A simple search of google (not for the faint-hearted) is all thats required to witness some of the suffering inflicted on circus animals...I am not insinuating anything regarding Courtneys in particular..just the cruelty which is inherent in the circus industry...i believe that the best place to observe these magnificent creatures is in their natural habitat or at worst in a properly run wildlife park.

allthedoyles

Tigers , LLama's , Horses , etc , all well turned out and looked well . - Way better than animals you see every day in farmyards .

The highlight of the circus for us was definately the acrobats .

Addictedtogolf

Do you honestly hand on heart think that a tiger should live in a cage for commercial purposes and to entertain you? or any other animal for that matter?

I am more than happy to support circus with human performers in it but animals...!!! Have we not become a little more civilised ???

Mugser

Last year Wicklow CC banned circuses that use 'performing' animals from doing business within the county, I think some other councils may have followed, but it's about time the rest of the County/City councils around the country did something decent and worthwhile and followed suit.

Not The Real Scarecrow

Mugser wrote: »

Last year Wicklow CC banned circuses that use 'performing' animals from doing business within the county, I think some other councils may have followed, but it's about time the rest of the County/City councils around the country did something decent and worthwhile and followed suit.

Have to agree.While it is fun watching a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat, I don't think there's much room for animal circus's anymore. The owners might be looking after them as best they can but all the travelling can't be good for them in the long run. On the rare occasion I have to bring the cat to the vet in his little box(the cat in a box not the vet in a little box) he gets fairly pissed off, can't imagine how it must feel for a tiger and having to do it every couple of days.I know they probably get used to it but they shouldn't have to.

All the animals should be set free immediately. The guards will be delighted with the overtime.