More than a thousand people gathered on Saturday in the Taras Shevchenko Park in downtown Kyiv to rally in support of a ban on the use of animals in circuses, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
Speaking from the pedestal of the Taras Shevchenko monument, the founder of the UAnimals animal protection initiative which organized the rally, Oleksandr Todorchuk, stressed that the activists are not against circuses as such, but only against the exploitation of animals in them.
Singer of the ONUKA band Nata Zhyzhchenko, member of the Panivalkova trio Iryna Luzyna and other public figures addressed participants of the rally.
Many of the rally participants were dressed in animal costumes or were holding homemade posters with the inscriptions “Circus Without Cruelty”, “Animals Are Not Clowns”, “You Are Laughing – Animals Are Crying”, “Behind the Scenes Everything Is Not So Fun”, “They Cannot Fight For Their Rights. You can!”, etc. There were many adults with children and dogs.
At present, laws that prohibit or restrict the use of animals in circus performances are in effect in Austria, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Finland, many U.S. states and in several dozen other countries.
In Ukraine, lawmakers along with animal rights protectors have already submitted two bills to the Verkhovna Rada that propose banning performances using animals in traveling and stationary circuses in Ukraine.
Draft amendments to the law on protection of animals against cruelty (No. 5283) envisage banning the use of animals in travelling circuses as well as in mobile zoos and wildlife exhibitions.
Bill No. 5229 on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine concerning measures to prevent inhumane and cruel treatment of animals suggests adding an article to the Code of Administrative Offenses prohibiting the use of wild and farm animals not only in circuses, but also during any other entertainment events.
