- Today, Saturday June 6th, 3 and 7 pm, John Brother MacDonald Stadium, New Glasgow
- Sunday, June 7th, 3:30 pm, Center 200, Sydney
- Monday, June 8th, 4:30 and 7:30 pm, Richmond Arena, Louisdale
- Tuesday, June 9th, 4:30 and 7:30 pm, Whycocomagh & Area Arena, Whycocomagh
- Wednesday, June 10th, 4:30 and 7:30 pm, Hants Exhibition Arena, Windsor
- Thursday, June 11th, 4:30 and 7:30 pm, Kentville Arena, Kentville
- Friday, June 12th - 4:30 and 7:30 pm, Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex, Brookfield
- Saturday, June 13th - 3 and 7 pm, Amherst Stadium
Shouldn't a day at the circus be considered good family fun? Not at the expense of animal welfare .... not only is the Nova Scotia SPCA opposed to the use of elderly elephant in circus , but they have made a public plea that the Department of Natural Resources follow its own regulations and cancel the permits for the circus dates in Nova Scotia.
The Honourable Carolyn Bolivar-Getson is the Minister of Natural Resources (MLA for Lunenburg West) If you wish to let her, and your government know how you feel about this issue, contact the Department of Natural Resources:
- 3rd Floor, Founders Square1701 Hollis StreetPO Box 698Halifax, Nova ScotiaB3J 2T9
- Phone: (902) 424-4037
- Fax: (902) 424-0594
- bolivargetson@gov.ns.ca
Or the Constituency Office:
- 410 Kings StreetBridgewater, NS B4V 1A9
- Phone: (902) 530-0001
- Fax: (902) 530-0004
Last but not least, its always time well spent to let our Premier, premier@gov.ns.ca , know how you feel. The better bet this close to election day would be to contact his constituency office:
- 15759 Central AvenueInverness, NS B0E 1N0
- Phone: (902) 258-2216
- Fax: (902) 258-3231
- rodneym@ns.sympatico.ca
The really incredible thing is that the SPCANS news release has been virtually ignored by all the media. On the uptick, when the radio station here in the valley dismissed individual concerns about the circus coming to Kentville, a strongly worded letter was quickly issued by the SPCANS President in response:
Dear Mr. Johnson,
My name is Sean Kelly I am the president of the Nova Scotia SPCA. I am very concerned with your radio stations support and promotion of Cirque Estival. This circus will be performing in Kentville on the 11th June 2009. This circus is in our opinion in violation of Dept. Of Natural Resources regulations and Elephant best practices. The elephant named Limba that Cirque Estival is using to perform is currently 45 years old, was taken out of captivity in the mid sixties and has been working at zoos and circuses ever since.
am not sure if you are aware however the Asiatic Elephant is an endangered species and their numbers are dwindling quickly. The SPCA takes issue with any organization or company that uses animals taken from the wild for the purposes of performance and/or making money. Furthermore Limba is well past her prime for performing as she has been making money for organizations like Cirque Estival for over 40 years. It’s time this creature retire to a reserve where she can practice being an elephant rather than a side show act.
The unfortunate story of Limba is that she was orphaned as an immature elephant and then taken from the wild where she was stuck in a zoo for many years by herself with no contact with other elephants. Elephants are as social an animal as human beings, so much so that the Nova Scotia Dept of Natural Resources comments about how important it is to not allow circuses to travel with only one elephant. Limba has become the exception to the DNR regulations because she has never had the opportunity to become attached to other elephants, it has been said that she does not even know how to interact with them. Because of this near half century of neglect Limba is the only single elephant that is allowed to travel to Nova Scotia under what Cirque Estival and DNR call compelling reasons to grant a permit.
In 2002 Limba allegedly attacked a trainer at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, her story gets worse from here. Upon this apparent attack the Zoo where she resided and still resides Bowmanville Zoo sent a trainer to ensure that she was being handled properly. While there he admittedly purchased an electric cattle prod and a whip which he later said he did not use on Limba. After his visit there were reports to the media that he beat Limba into submission.
The Zoo in which Limba resides and is affiliated with Cirque Estival, incidentally the people in which you commented to a Ms. Melissa Lee as being respected in their trade have received a failing grade from a watchdog organization called Zoocheck many times while zoos such as the Toronto Zoo passed. I strongly disagree with your statement. I have attached the letter that the NS SPCA sent to DNR asking for them to reconsider Cirque Estival’s permit. Sean Kelly
President
Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
Email: President-VP@spcans.ca
May 31 2009
Bert J. Vissers
Manager Provincial Wildlife Parks NS
Department Natural Resources
149 Creighton Road
P.O. Box 299 Shubenacadie,
Nova Scotia B0N 2H0
Re: Cirque Estival
Dear Bert,
This is a formal request for you to revoke the permit allowing Cirque Estival to bring its travelling circus to Nova Scotia this June. The grounds for revoking the permit are detailed below.
First, the provisions regarding elephants in the Standards Exhibiting Circus Animals in Nova Scotia (“The Standards”)are violated in a number of instances. Details are as follows:
2.6. Social species shall not be exhibited as single specimens unless compelling reasons can be shown.
2.7.D. … Elephants are intelligent, inquisitive and social creatures, and therefore circuses must not maintain single elephants. Elephants kept in circuses must be supplied with … social contact with other elephants.
17. D.1. As elephants are social herd animals, they must always be able to see and touch other elephants [emphasis added].
It is clear according to our province’s standards that any amount of time spent by an elephant without others of its kind is unacceptable, and is thus grounds for denying or revoking a circus permit.
Second, according to compelling evidence now in your possession, the directors of Cirque Estival have violated another of The Standards’ provisions.
22.1. Records must be maintained for each individual animal. These records must show:... xv) Any noteworthy incidents involving this animal.
Limba the elephant – who is scheduled to travel with Cirque Estival throughout the Maritimes – attacked and injured a trainer at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg. By anyone’s calculations, an elephant attack on a human being constitutes a “noteworthy incident”. It is unlikely that Nova Scotians would be pleased to know that an elephant with such a history was permitted to perform for their children. This information would have been critical in your determination as to whether or not to give the circus directors a permit. They had a duty to inform you of this, and they violated that duty. It is thus well within the discretion of the Department of Natural Resources to revoke Cirque Estival’s permit.
If the circus comes to our province, the Nova Scotia SPCA will take position against it. One of the grounds on which we would be taking issue will be the fact that the circus’s permit should have been revoked when it came to light that Cirque Estival violated Nova Scotia’s circus standards.
For the above reasons, we respectfully request that you revoke Cirque Estival’s permit to bring a circus to Nova Scotia, effective immediately. In the alternative, we request that you inform Cirque Estival that they will not be permitted to bring their elephant into our province.
We of course would be pleased to discuss this further with you, Bert. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.
Sincerely,
Sean Kelly
President
Nova Scotia SPCA
What time is it? If our politicians and candidates can't adjust to the new reality of a society that is 'speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves, its time to speak to them in the the only way they understand .... at the polling stations on Tuesday.
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