Dougray Scott Calls On Scotland to Ban Wild Animals in Circuses
Dougray Scott knows a thing or two about life in the entertainment industry. And he knows that wild animals don’t belong in it.
The Scottish star, known for his roles in Mission: Impossible II, Hitman, Desperate Housewives and Hemlock Grove, has written to Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment Richard Lochhead urging him to initiate the process of creating new legislation for a complete ban on archaic wild animal circuses in Scotland.
He wrote:
I am writing … to urge you to implement a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses in Scotland without delay.
I recently learned that the overwhelming majority (98 per cent!) of people who responded to the government’s public consultation on circuses supported a complete ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses. That doesn’t surprise me. Animals who are used by circuses are robbed of everything that is natural and important to them. They often spend their lives in tiny cages and in transit from one location to another. They’re forced to perform meaningless and often painful tricks – and many of them are repeatedly beaten and punished. Our understanding of wild animals has come a long way, and we now know that a circus environment can never meet their complex needs.
Fortunately, it’s been years since any circus tried to palm off beaten-down animals on the Scottish public, so it should be easy for our government to make a ban official. A permanent prohibition on animal circuses in Scotland would send a powerful message without affecting the local economy.
Austria, Belgium, Croatia and Estonia are among the many enlightened European countries that have laws or regulations against the use of wild animals in circuses. Please help ensure that Scotland follows in their footsteps by initiating the process of creating new legislation for a complete ban on the use of animals in circuses.
Now’s the time for the Scottish government to take action in support of the will of the people and send circuses that use wild animals packing. Please join Dougray by sending a quick message to Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment asking him to implement a ban without delay.
