The circus was in town for two daily performances which drew crowds to the big top in the Myre last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Whilst the appearance was welcomed by some quarters others, particularly supporters of Advocates for Animals, rallied support from members of the public to "demonstrate our opposition to this backward and cruel form of 'entertainment' by voting with our feet."

Two letters published in the Dispatch and Herald last week were submitted by local readers who openly supported Advocates for Animals, stating it had a long history of campaigning against "all forms of animal cruelty and exploitation" and that they were proud to support them in taking a stand against animal circuses.

One contributor stated: "In our supposed civilised world this type of exploitation of animals must be banned."

Both letters concluded: "There are many travelling circuses that do not involve animals, and these wonders of human performance are the ones that deserve our support."

Responding to the allegations of "animal exploitation" David Hibling, creative director for Zippos Circus, stated the circus was proud of its welfare programme.

Speaking last Wednesday, just as Zippos Circus was about to finish its first ever visit to Angus, appearing in Arbroath, Montrose and Forfar, he said: "We have been overwhelmed by the positive response to the circus and the many thousands of local people who have attended the show.

"We have been especially delighted that people have kindly taken time to seek out members of staff after the performance to say how much their families enjoyed Zippos Circus.

"I do know there have been one or two voices of dissent regarding the circus featuring horses and birds, but their views are quite clearly in the extreme minority.

"Zippos Circus is very alive to the welfare of our non-human partners and proud of the welfare programme we have in place with regards performance, training, all aspects of daily care, transport etc."



He also referred to inspections carried out by staff from the Thrums Veterinary Group at the three Angus locations which praised the circus.

He continued: "At the council's request we invited a local, independent veterinary practitioner (Thrums) to inspect the horses and birds and their facilities at each of our three Angus venues.

"As with similar, countless inspections Zippos has had over the years from vets and council animal welfare officers throughout the United Kingdom, there was only praise for the circus animals.

"We also received a very positive report from the SSPCA after an inspection during our visit to Scotland.

"If some people object to circuses on moral grounds then they have the right not to attend but they are totally wrong to object on grounds of "cruelty" as this is quite simply not true.

"Despite the vociferous accusations by animal rights groups the Scottish Parliament has just only recently reported there is no scientific evidence at all to support the view the circuses cause suffering to animals and no justification for bans - something we at Zippos (and our audience) have known all along."

Allegations

Martin Burton, founder and director of Zippos Circus, also responded in full to the allegations of "exploitation" from the supporters of "Advocates for Animals".

In a letter to the Dispatch and Herald (which is published in full on our letters section, he urged the public not to be swayed by "animal rights extremists".

He also defended the movement of "our beloved animals" from town to town, quoting the SSPCA which had no concerns over the welfare or care of any of the horses, ponies or budgerigars on site or the transport available for the animals.

See our letters section for more comment and this week's Cross Talk.