Activists protest against use of animals by visiting circus

Animal rights activists are planning to continue their protest against the Il Florilegio Circus when it opens in Booterstown, Co Dublin, tomorrow.

The activists, members of the Alliance for Animal Rights, waited until after 1 a.m. at Dublin docks yesterday to protest as the animals were brought ashore from a ferry following their journey from Maastricht in the Netherlands.

They are now hoping to persuade families not to visit the circus.

Speaking at Dublin port yesterday morning, where approximately 20 "vigil-keepers" had staged their protest, Ms Bernie Wright said that the animals - three pythons, a hippopotamus, a leopard, a white rhinoceros and two elephants - had been subjected to a journey by sea around the UK "because they aren't allowed into England".

She said that the group was disappointed with the Ministers for Agriculture and for Arts, Gaeltacht, Heritage and the Islands, Mr Walsh and Ms de Valera, respectively, for permitting the proprietors of the circus to import the animals.

"The Department of Agriculture vets can go on board the vessel and say the animals are all right, but they don't seem to see how depressed they are."

Ms Wright maintained that circus animals were frequently chained while in transit and when they were not performing. While she accepted that the site at Booterstown was not small, she insisted: "It's hardly big enough to exercise a couple of elephants. How much exercise do you think they will get in the six weeks they are supposed to be there? These animals get unshackled to do their show, and then they are in a state of fear."

While the members of the alliance waited in the rain from 9 p.m. on Tuesday for the arrival of the vessel, they lit candles to symbolise a vigil.

The first trailers came out of the port preceded by a woman driving a Milanese-registered Mercedes, but it was not until after 1 a.m. that the activists realised that the lorries containing the animals had left through another exit closer to the East Link bridge.

The circus arrived at its intended site at Booterstown yesterday and a spokesman said that tickets were still available for people wishing to attend it.