Bill to ban wild animals from Circuses in England fails to appear
Most members of the public would have looked at the Queens Speech on Wednesday looking for information or reassurance on issues that would affect their daily lives and the lives of their families; whether on issues such as the economy today or pensions in the future. Here at OneKind we were struck by what was not in the Speech. It was reminiscent of the famous Sherlock Holmes case of the curious incident of the dog that did NOT bark in the night. That it did not bark was curious.
And for OneKind it was curious that there was no mention of the promised bill to ban wild animals in circuses. Its beyond curious actually we are upset and disappointed that a bill that had been previously promised as we reported in October last year failed to be listed in the Queens speech.
OneKind have been part of a long running campaign over many years to end the use of all animals in Circuses across all nations in the UK. We welcomed the proposed bill and praised the Government for pressing ahead with their Bill to ban wild animals from circuses in England, despite opposition from a select Committee. But we now encourage everyone to keep up the pressure to make sure that bill is enacted in Westminster before the next UK General Election in 2015.
It is not certain who would form the Government after the UK General Election. Indeed even if it were the same parties after an election with new Manifestos inevitably they will have new priorities. So we could have to start this campaign again from scratch. That is why it is ESSENTIAL that the Government’s promised Bill does become law before parliament breaks up next May.
We have been working with other like minded charities on this issue, one being CAPS, the Captive Animals Protection Society. They are running a campaign on their website where people can do two things. If using Twitter you can tweet with the hashtag #wherestheban! You can also write to your MP to ask them to place pressure on the UK Government to do the right. Sample text that you can use is on is on their website.
Please visit the website. Please take action NOW