Although the United States considers itself more progressive and civilized, when it comes to the treatment of show animals, they are miserably far behind Mexico.
The Mexican congress, being the 10th country to do so globally, has passed measures to stop animals being exploited for entertainment.
Gildardo Guerrero, of the political Mexican party PAN, has been quoted as saying circuses with animals are “a modern form of slavery. In the wild, bears to not ride unicycles, elephants do not balance on balls and tigers so not jump through rings of fire.” Congress further stated “the use of animals in circuses provides no educational value to viewers” performing for audiences mainly “because they fear what may happen if they do not.”
As it stands, circuses who do not remove animal acts with the deadline being the end of year will be fined between $45,000 and $60,000. This applies to wild, exotic animals so it remains that dogs and horses will still be utilized. It does not, however, apply to dolphins, whales or the national tradition of bullfighting. Elephants, whales and dolphin have been known to speak for themselves, getting a lot of media attention and therefore, much of the changes we are witnessing. Bulls have long defended themselves, often triumphing in some gory contests.
How does this change what one will see in Puerto Vallarta? With the current circus in town, there’s been no evidence of elephants or giraffes staked outside as seen in the past. It’s being well attended by local families who report the lack of animal acts in a very enjoyable show.
In Guadalajara, the Magic Spacial Cyber Circus is very excited about their new $50,000 robotic elephant that interacts with the audience. Big Yorgi, as he is called, cannot be tortured, doesn’t eat much and won’t endanger crowds in protest of treatment. Traditional performances by jugglers, acrobats and high wire acts keep audiences on the edge of their seats without the mistreatment of animals, which we expect to become a thing of the past. We are really quite proud of Mexico in this regard and hope to witness the northern neighbors following suit.
Que es cómo es.
Thanks to our guest blogger Adam Garcia for this article!
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