Wild Animals

 

Giant Legal Step To Protect Circus Animals

 

Animal protection NGOs welcome the recent passing of a long-awaited governmental decree which regulates the keeping of circus animals and bans using wild animals in circuses. The decision puts Hungary ahead of several EU members in terms of protecting animals in the entertainment business.

 

Budapest, 18th September 2007

 

The Fauna Society and the Four Paws Hungary welcome the government's decision. The two organizations had jointly lobbied on behalf of ill-treated circus animals in the past years. With a special focus on their welfare and protection, the so far unprecedented decree strictly regulates the keeping and transportation of circus animals, as well as their display on stage.

The new regulation's greatest merit is the ban on keeping and staging wild animals caught after the decree has come into force in 28th September 2007 in Hungarian circuses. Exceptions to the rule are elephants, rhinos and all primates, which cannot be bought, be kept and be displayed at all after the decree has entered into force. In addition, the decree will also ban using endangered wild animal species (under CITES) - caught after 2010 - from stages, for good. In case of other animals, owners will have to comply with the requirements within 3.5 years, thus, those animals will also benefit from the new measures.

In Hungary, there are approximately twenty operating circuses with 200 animals. Two-thirds of that figure is made up of domestic species, such as dogs and horses, and the rest are zebras, buffalos, llamas, monkeys, lions, tigers, elephants, leopards, snakes and caimans. Animals are typically kept in small cages, outworn wagons - sometimes chained - in some cases even lacking proper housing and food.

With the recently passed governmental decree, whose drafting was a joint effort of animal protection NGOs and the relevant ministries, Hungary testifies to a forward pointing, animal-friendly mentality. It is also setting a good example for fellow members of the EU, of which - so far - only Hungary, Austria and Belgium have banned the keeping and displaying of wild animals in circuses. The Hungarian government’s decision is also in line with international trends, which are pointing towards a gradual ban on staging animal shows in circuses. The passing of similar regulations is in the pipeline in the U.K., Finland, Denmark and Slovakia.

"We are not against circuses and we believe the ban on animal shows does not at all mean that circus as an artistic genre will cease to exist. An open-minded modern man, however, is not entertained by the misery of animals, rather by exceptional human performance" said Levente Pencz the Campaigns Director of Fauna Society.

"The passing of the circus decree is an important milestone, marking the first forward-pointing step in the field of animal protection [in Hungary]. We hope that it will be followed by more alike, since there are still many animals in need, not only in circuses," added Éva Hercsuth, the Managing Director of Four Paws Hungary.


Background

The new decree - the making of

The 1999 animal protection law necessitated the creation of a detailed and clear legal background for keeping circus animals. In 2001, the relevant ministries started drafting a proposal on the subject. Their efforts have been fuelled by animal protection NGOs and the press, which kept the issue of circus animals on the agenda. In October 2004, the Ministry of Culture, in charge of circuses and circus art, initiated the drafting of a proposal to the government to regulate the keeping, transportation and displaying of animals in circuses. The draft was finalized at the end of 2006, and after getting green light from EU authorities, it was officially publicized as the 222/2007 (VIII. 29.) governmental decree in Magyar Közlöny - the government’s official gazette - on 29th August 2007. The decree took effect on 28th September 2007.

Thanks to the work of Fauna Society and Four Paws Hungary, besides the ban on keeping wild animals, the following animal protecting measures have also been approved and passed by the decree:

  • The immediate ban on keeping new elephants and primates

  • Mandatory veterinary record keeping, individually for each animal

  • Opportunity to obtain partial operating license, with the legal background to withdraw it

  • Mandatory posting of the operating license to a visible place

  • Compulsory veterinary check-up twice a year

Full text of the decree is available here.

Special thanks go to our legal advisors in the process: dr. Robert Czerny's (Fauna Society) and dr. Richard Bernwallner's (Four Paws Foundation).

Born to be wild - not to be an artiste

The slogan of a joint campaign and a though-provoking drawing competition by Fauna Society and Four Paws Hungary. The pupils from the participating school classes were expected to imagine and put into drawings what circuses would be like without wild animals. The prize of the winning class was a day-trip to the Baerenwald bear farm, north of Vienna, Austria.