Contributions
739 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill (First sitting)Q Are you and other welfare groups happy that there are sufficient powers in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for the police to intervene and take action against circuses and owners…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill (First sitting)Q I am very grateful to Oliver Heald for doing such a good job defending the rights of Island falconers. However, on a serious point, this is not only about people in remote…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill (First sitting)Q I think the answer to that is that I cannot imagine a circumstance where it becomes so irregular and so often that it would potentially qualify. The problem is, as we know from…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q Fair enough. I do not know whether you can answer this, but let me try you with one other question. Non-governmental organisations say that keeping wild, but trained, animals in…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Okay, so you do not have an opinion on it. Mike Radford: I do have an opinion, but I am here as a lawyer.21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill (First sitting)Q Out of interest, do you think that show jumping or falconry are inherently cruel? You could say that they are not what wild animals are there for. Therefore, there are animal…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill (First sitting)Q You used the words “free to choose”. Animals respond to their behaviour types; they do not have freedom of choice in the same way that humans do. When you talk about being free…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q For my own understanding, and hopefully that of the Committee, I will try not to repeat things, but ask about a few things that seem to be at the heart of the argument and of…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q So they are not wild animals according to a definition of the word that you would accept. They are just non-traditional kept animals. Peter Jolly: That is right.21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q You are saying that the evidence shows—correct me if I am wrong; if you could point to the evidence, that would be great—that their levels of stress are no different from other…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q Because they have not known an alternative existence that, according to people this morning, would have been more true to their nature. Peter Jolly: Camels have always been kept…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q The second central point seems to be the generalised discussion about whether having animals in circuses is an idea whose time has passed. You are obviously disputing that. Will…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q So you will continue with animals, but obviously not the “wild” ones, although you are challenging the definition of what is wild? Carol MacManus: Yes. Peter Jolly: Yes.21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)We are shifting the balance, so there is a public perception. Do you know what the polling is over approval ratings or disapproval ratings about “wild” animals in circuses, and…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q Okay. One of the problems, as one of my colleagues mentioned earlier, is that there has been some bad publicity about this, which has obviously damaged the cause of having…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q Fair enough, sir, but in your lifetime you will have come across circuses with wild hunters and not just—sorry, I do not know the correct term for something that is not a…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q Yes. Apart from the fox, you do not have predators in your circus nowadays. Peter Jolly: No.21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q Do you accept that there would have been a difference—morally or practically—between having predators such as a lion or a tiger and having non-predators in a circus? Carol…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q I am guessing here because I am no expert on this, but it seems to be a more complex argument to make that you can hold a lion or a tiger in a captive environment and give that…21 May 2019HANSARDWild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill (Second sitting)Q What is their life expectancy in the wild and in your circus? Martin Lacey: That is a very good question. In the wild, the life expectancy for a lion would by nine to 11 years…21 May 2019