Thursday, March 29, 2012
Animal rights groups plan to picket the circus from which an elephant escaped before going walkabout in a Cork City car park.
The picket by Animal Rights Action Network will take place on Saturday at the Courtney Brothers circus’ last night at the former Sunbeam factory site.
Shoppers were shocked at about 4.30pm on Tuesday when the 40-year-old female Indian elephant, Baby, broke away from her enclosure and made her way to a car park before charging on to a busy interchange near a shopping centre in Blackpool, on Cork’s northside, with two handlers running behind. It is understood she ran away as she did not like being hosed down.
Aran said the incident could have led to serious injury or death.
The group is campaigning for a ban on animal circus acts in all local authority areas. Such a ban already exists in Fingal County Council.
“This should be seen as a clear warning that it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed or injured,” said Aran spokesman John Carmody.
“These are animals that belong in the wild but are kept in cramped vans and wagons for transportation and then made to perform ridiculous acts.”
Aran has asked how the Courtney Brothers’ Circus got permission to set up in Cork City, as four years ago a Socialist Party motion was backed by Cork City Council banning all wildlife-act circuses. The motion was passed but it is understood delays in the bylaw drafting process led to it being shelved.
A circus spokesman said the elephant was new to the company.
“We had the elephants out to wash them down in the warm weather,” said the spokesman. “Now that we know how she will react, we will approach hosing her down in a different way and get her used to it slowly.”
He denied that animals were mistreated. “Apart from common decency, it would be stupidity to abuse the animals that support our livelihoods.”
On camera
Paul Dunbar doesn’t see himself as a budding Stephen Spielberg, yet his two-minute film of Baby the elephant has gone viral on the internet.
Already, TV stations in Norway and Sweden are offering him money for his account of how the baby escaped into a car park in Cork. The film was shot from the constituency offices of Labour TD and health minister of state Kathleen Lynch, where Paul works.
“I don’t even have an up-to-the minute phone,” said Paul, from Sligo, who filmed the runaway at 4.45pm on Tuesday from a window overlooking the car park. “My colleague noticed what was happening at first and then I started filming as the elephant started running about in front of Argos and heading for the coffee shop.
“It seemed a bit agitated and then started running up the road.
“The day before the circus paraded five elephants around the area and everyone stopped to have a look. I thought it seemed a bit odd and even dangerous. [Baby] demonstrated what could happen.”
— Dan Buckley