Born Free’s Head of Animal Welfare and Captivity, Chris Draper, said: “I am delighted that Born Free has played its part, alongside our friends at OneKind and others, in securing this key decision. We would like to thank MSPs for their compassion and for reaching a decision on this important issue in a prompt and level-headed manner. This stands in stark contrast to the situation in Westminster, where the Government has wavered and delayed on bringing in a ban on wild animals in travelling circuses in England for several years now”.

Born Free will now redouble our efforts to push for bans on wild animals in travelling circuses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In recent weeks, thanks to the efforts of our friends at ISPCA, a ban has been announced in the Republic of Ireland, while a similar announcement was made in Italy in November.

“Let’s hope that this wave of common sense continues to spread across the UK and Europe, and that we can soon consign to the history books the exploitation of complex and sentient animals for this form of dubious entertainment”.

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