Robert Carlyle Really Wants Scotland to Ban Wild-Animal Circuses
“It’s time that animal circuses joined bearbaiting and cockfighting in the dustpan of antique abuses that no longer entertain us”, the actor wrote.
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Robert Carlyle, who has starred in cult films from Trainspotting to The Full Monty as well as the smash-hit TV series Once Upon a Time, is calling on the Scottish government to make it illegal for circuses to use wild animals.
Like many actors, including Dougray Scott, Martin Freeman and Michael Sheen, Robert knows that wild animals have no place in the entertainment industry. Whether on stage, on a film set or in a circus ring, only willing human performers belong in the spotlight.
In a letter to Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment, the compassionate star wrote:
The Scottish public’s opinion on wild animals used in circuses has been voiced loud and clear, as 98 per cent of respondents to the government’s consultation supported a ban. In the 21st century, it’s obscene for wild animals to be denied everything that is natural and important to them, confined to cages or boxcars and dragged around the country and forced to perform demeaning and often painful tricks for human amusement. It’s time that animal circuses joined bearbaiting and cockfighting in the dustpan of antique abuses that no longer entertain us.
Numerous local authorities in the UK have instituted a ban on allowing circuses that use animals to perform on public grounds, and many countries – including Austria, Bolivia, Finland, India, Mexico, Singapore and Sweden – have implemented bans or prohibitions on wild-animal acts. Please help ensure that Scotland follows in their footsteps by initiating the process of creating new legislation for a complete ban on the use of wild animals in circuses.
You can join Robert by sending your own message to the Scottish government about circuses here:
