Editing Circus (section)

====England====
In 1998 in the United Kingdom, a parliamentary working group chaired by MP [[Roger Gale]] studied living conditions and treatment of animals in UK circuses. All members of this group agreed that a change in the law was needed to protect circus animals. Gale told the BBC, "It's undignified and the conditions under which they are kept are woefully inadequate—the cages are too small, the environments they live in are not suitable and many of us believe the time has come for that practice to end." The group reported concerns about boredom and stress, and noted that an independent study by a member of the [[Wildlife Conservation Research Unit]] at [[Oxford University]] "found no evidence that circuses contribute to education or conservation."; however, in 2007, a different working group under the UK [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]], having reviewed information from experts representing both the circus industry and animal welfare, found an absence of "scientific evidence sufficient to demonstrate that travelling circuses are not compatible with meeting the welfare needs of any type of non-domesticated animal presently being used in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/201483.stm |title=UK Politics Protect circus animals call |work=BBC News |date=26 October 1998 |access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref>" According to that group's report, published in October 2007, "there appears to be little evidence to demonstrate that the welfare of animals kept in travelling circuses is any better or any worse than that of animals kept in other captive environments."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20091106081209/http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/welfare/documents/circus-report.pdf "Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses: The Report of the Chairman of the Circus Working Group".] UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. October 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2010.</ref>

A ban prohibiting the use of wild animals in circuses in England was due to be passed in 2015, but Conservative MP [[Christopher Chope]] repeatedly blocked the bill under the reasoning that "The EU Membership Costs and Benefits bill should have been called by the clerk before the circuses bill, so I raised a point of order". He explained that the circus bill was "at the bottom of the list" for discussion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11602645.Anger_after_bill_to_ban_wild_animals_in_circuses_is_blocked_by_MP_Chris_Chope/|title=Anger after bill to ban wild animals in circuses is blocked by MP Chris Chope|website=Bournemouth Echo|date=14 November 2014 |access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref> The [[Animal Defenders International]] non-profit group dubbed this "a huge embarrassment for Britain that 30 other nations have taken action before us on this simple and popular measure".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ad-international.org/media_centre/go.php?id=3858&si=12|title=Cameron urged to keep circus ban promise as Conservative MP blocks bill for eighth time|website=[[Animal Defenders International]]|access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref> On 1 May 2019 Environmental Secretary Michael Gove announced a new Bill to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gove-delivers-legislation-to-ban-wild-animals-in-circuses "Gove delivers legislation to ban wild animals in circuses".] UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.</ref> The [[Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019]] came into effect on 20 January 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=4 – Extent, commencement and short title |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/24/section/4/enacted |website=[[Legislation.gov.uk]] |access-date=11 February 2021}}</ref>