Great news for animals used in circuses in Spain! A circus in Spain has voluntarily stopped their wild animals performances and retired the two males lions to non-profit organizations, AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection and InfoCircos, and has agreed not to replace the animals. The agreement comes after the two lions were forced to perform and AAP intervened to save the animals.

“This is the first circus, which in addition to giving up all wild animals, has agreed not to replace them. the only way to solve the problem is through dialogue and the creation of agreements of this type,” said Director of APP, Pilar Jornet.

AAP and InfoCircos are hopeful this will be the start of the complete removal of wild animals from circuses in Spain. There are already 400 municipalities where wild animal performances are banned.  Catalonia has banned wild animals completely and six other autonomous provinces have passed legislation to enforce bans of their own.

The two male lions are currently in quarantine at Primadomus, AAP’s facility in Spain, where they will begin their rehabilitation process. AAP’s website notes that they will, “…provide shelter for animals that need urgent help so that they can settle down and recuperate.”

Even more good news: on the same day the two lions arrived at Primadomus, AAP’s French partner organization 30 Millions d’Amis also announced that a well-known French circus had made the same decision to stop performing with wild animals and to hand over the animals to rescue centers and sanctuaries!

A representative for the French circus was clear about their motive to hand over the animals, “It’s out of love for the animals and respect for the public that I stop. I have seen an opinion poll which indicates that 80 percent of French people are sensitive to the animal cause. Our job is to deliver a show for the whole family. If a large majority of families are sensitive to the animal cause, we cannot continue with a show which disturbs them. I will not continue presenting animals to people who have moral issues when they go to the circus.”

Wow! Goes to show the power of speaking up for animals. Public opinion has already led to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus announcing they will be shutting down and recently, cruel footage from a performance at a zoo in China has led to the video being viewed more than 10 million times has forced the zoo to suspend their animal performances because of public outrage. The message is clear: people no longer want to see animals held captive and perform silly tricks.

AAP and InfoCircos hope that this dialogue with the circus community will be key in solving animals held captive for entertainment. “We encourage other circuses to follow suit and reconvert their activity to adapt it to what today’s society really demands. As a rescue center, we are ready to help by taking in the animals or assist in finding other rescue solutions”, said AAP’s CEO David van Gennep.

Soon, using animals in entertainment will be something only seen in history books. Share this happy news with all of the animal lovers you know!

Image source: AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection