Animal rights activists take on McLaren’s Circus – Ballito

The appearance of McLaren’s Circus on the Dolphin Coast caused mixed reactions, with hundreds heading out to enjoy the show while a vocal minority firmly opposed its use of animals.

The circus performed in both Tongaat and Ballito, before moving on to KwaDukuza.

It wasn’t only clowns who made for funny business though, as those against the circus began by vandalising and removing McLaren’s paid-for posters around town.

David McLaren accused protest leader Tara Aberdeen and the Ban Animal Trading (BAT) group of vandalising his posters, however Aberdeen denied they had anything to do with it.

“These guys follow me around from town to town doing this kind of thing,” McLaren said.

“They vandalised my posters in Amanzimtoti too, and this is advertising that I paid for.”

However, Aberdeen said they had never vandalised any of the circus’ property and that the leaflets pasted over the posters were not BAT material.

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Leading up to the circus performance in Ballito, there was a lot of anger on social media platforms regarding their use of animals – particularly wild animals – for performances.

However, if the measure of a movement is its support, then the 50-odd protesters who showed up to make their voices heard on Saturday were outnumbered by the hundreds who flocked to watch the show.

On the day of the protest, tempers flared as McLaren and Aberdeen traded accusations while Umhlali SAPS tried to keep the peace.

“We are firmly opposed to the use of animals as entertainment,” Aberdeen told the Courier.

However, she stressed that BAT had never claimed McLarens’ animals were physically abused.

“They may not technically be abused, but they were bred for a captive life, endure gruelling training regimens and have to spend their lives in cages and small plots of land.”

She said they believed the animals suffered from what she called “zoochosis” (comparable to depression in animals) due to stress and boredom.

In contrast, McLaren says his animals are “pampered” and live an easy life.

“My training is not cruel. I use positive reinforcement methods to train them, not punishment. How would I benefit from mistreating my animals?”

With a wry grin, McLaren said the BAT movement actually kept them on their toes, making sure they took the best care of their animals so as to avoid confrontations and accusations.

He stated that his animals, especially the lions, tigers and other wild animals, were born into captivity and said it was “their destiny”.

“None of our animals were taken out of the wild. They were born and bred in captivity and would always have been – whether it was in a zoo or in my circus.”

McLaren said none of the circus animals have been declawed or had their teeth pulled. In fact, the circus is constantly monitored by the SPCA to make sure the animals are not abused.

Fortunately, despite a few harassment accusations and both McLaren and Aberdeen claiming they were a personal target for the other, the protest was carried out peacefully and without incident.

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