Animal Welfare Bill

moved Amendment No. 5: After Clause 8, insert the following new clause- ““CIRCUS ANIMALS (1) For the purposes of a circus, a person commits an offence if he uses or keeps an animal not of a kind designated under subsection (2). (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Secretary of State may by regulation designate a kind of animal if he is satisfied, on the basis of scientific evidence, that the welfare needs of an animal of that kind is likely to be met if they are used or kept for the purposes of a circus. (3) In this section, ““circus”” means the keeping or introducing of animals wholly or mainly for the purpose of performing tricks or manoeuvres at more than one place during any period of one year.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Amendment No. 6 concerns circus animals and is similar to an amendment I tabled in Committee. These Benches believe that obliging the Government to licence the kinds of animals which they consider suitable for life in a travelling circus is a stronger starting point. A number of welfare organisations—Animal Defenders International, the RSPCA and the Born Free Foundation—agree that the Government’s decision to use a circus working group to consider the welfare needs of animals is a useful way forward. However, like those NGOs, we believe that the measure would be simpler and more effective if the burden of proof were on those who would legitimise the use of a kind of animal, as this amendment suggests, rather than assuming that all animals should be available for travelling circuses and the working group then discussing which sorts of animals it should ban. If a positive list were produced, it would get around the problem of the collection of evidence. If one wants to ban using an animal, there will have to be evidence of cruelty. It would be much simpler if an animal had to be shown to be suitable. The amendment would require those who would include a kind of animal to bring proof of the potential to meet its welfare needs, rather than oblige others to go searching for abuses. That is important because the itinerant nature of a travelling circus makes it hard to track the welfare of an animal at all times. The Bill must provide for an animal’s welfare in performances, at rest and on the road. It has consistently proven difficult for scientists to investigate the whole working life of circus animals. This amendment would look after the needs of domesticated and exotic species alike. At the moment, only a handful of circuses in the UK use animals, so it would not be a hard task to work with those practitioners to verify their good welfare standards where they are met. A brief from the RSPCA tells us that the minimum display pen sizes advocated by the Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain for big cats, bears, zebras, camels, pygmy hippos, giraffes, elephants and primates are, on average, 70 per cent smaller than the recommended outdoor enclosure sizes in zoos. Why, if there is a minimum recommended size and the animals are of the same species, should there be that double standard? The Minister will be aware that, in the other place, Early Day Motion 1626 calls for the prohibition of animals in circuses now and has received 144 signatures. My amendment does not go that far. It recognises that the Bill is a framework Bill and that there is a circus working group, and therefore does not call for a complete ban. It calls for a standard of proof of welfare to be required where animals are used, rather than the more difficult and costly proof of abuse. I should appreciate a commitment from the Minister that the remit of the circus working group will be changed in line with that. It is a minor modification to change the remit of the working group, but the benefits will be very great. I beg to move.