10 countries that banned circuses with animals and present cruelty-free shows

Circuses are a show with a history of thousands of years, and long ago they began to use wild and domestic animals. But that has changed: today we have 41 countries with restrictive measures for the use of animals in the circus and together they were pioneers in the generation of events according to the new times. At the end of this post, you will find a bonus that demonstrates that virtual reality can also be a protagonist in these cases.

O awesome.club is in favor of protecting the rights of animals and that’s why we prepared for you a list of some countries where circuses don’t have animals.

It all started with the Romans, who gave their name to the “circus”, as a kind of public entertainment activities, including the mythical Roman circus with challenges and life and death duels between men and animals. Later, the modern circus incorporated equestrian shows with acrobatics, but it was not until 1833 that trainer Isaac A. Van Amburgh became the first man to incorporate wild animals as part of the circus spectacle, an activity that continues to be in force in some countries.

In 2015, regulations for banning wild or wild species within circuses in Mexico went into effect. Previously, some states had already banned the use of all animals in circuses, such as Mexico City (capital) and Querétaro. Although it seems like the end of some of the most traditional spaces of this art, some have been reinvented and others say they managed to survive despite not having these species. One of them is the Circo Atayde Hermanos which, after 130 years, will be able to carry on the family legacy thanks to its new shows.

Bolivia was one of the first countries in South America to ban the use of animals in its totality (domestic and wild) inside the circus. The law came after an undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International (ADI), which released material showing the widespread mistreatment that took place at large circus shows.

In 2014, Animal Defenders International (ADI) secretly worked with the police in that country in a campaign called “Operation Spirit of Freedom”, in which they managed to rescue several wild animals from abuse and mistreatment. As in the case of Bolivia, this situation, added to a legislative initiative, led Peru to ban the use of animals in the circus.

Colombia, like its peers, passed a bill to ban wild animals from the circus. Furthermore, the country’s district environment secretary, Susana Muhamad, explained that this project went beyond the ban on bullfighting, because both are considered spectacles of cruelty.

Since 2018, there is a regulation in Italy that prohibits circus shows with animals. This document also served to remove more than 2,000 species exploited in the arenas.

In 1996, the Association Against Animal Exploitation of Austria (VGT) started a campaign against animal circuses, but it was not until 2002 that a turnaround in the proposal helped. That year, there was a focus only on the ban on wild species, which in 2003 was already a law and, in 2005, it came into force. It was then, according to the association itself, that circuses with wild animals ceased to exist in the country.

In 2015, thanks to over 10 years of work by animal welfare organization Wilde Dieren of Tent Uit, the use of wild animals in the country’s circuses was banned. From the moment the news was released, the association committed itself to relocating the specimens to a suitable space where they could live a life according to their needs.

Greece was the first country in Europe to ban the use of wild and domestic animals in circuses and took it a step further than its peers. Everything was done in a positive way, thanks to an extensive campaign by Animal Defenders International (ADI) and the Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), together with 52 animal protection associations, which pressured politicians in that country to know about the abuses and bad -treatments to which the animals were subjected.

This country was the latest in Europe to raise awareness of animal abuse in circuses and the law will come into effect from 2024, the year show owners will hand over their wild specimens so they can be relocated to their habitats.

In 2018, India celebrated that the government put on the table a proposal to ban the use of all animals in the circus. The organizations and community in charge of defending wildlife made efforts to rescue more than 100 specimens, which were rehabilitated and relocated to their true living spaces.

Circo Roncalli, founded in 1976 in Germany, is the first to use animal holograms (although they were never required to do their shows that way, except horses). Investment in virtual species is not cheap, because between production and assembly alone, the investment reaches around 2 million reais. But it already seems to be an alternative for those who love animal shows. In this way, many circuses are realizing that they do not need to mistreat or exploit animals to put on a show, and many of them are committed to showing the B side of their shows and integrating the community itself to participate as the true protagonists.

What changes do you think should be made in Brazilian circuses? What do you think shows that use animals should be like? Share in the comments!