Council of State hearing on November 8 for circus animals
Itinerant or not, circuses exploiting animals impose on them a life of violence and despair. Yet French law considers that spending one’s life behind bars and under the threat of the whip is tolerable under certain conditions, when the prison is fixed. In this respect, we have submitted a priority preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality to the Council of State. Tomorrow, November 8 at 2pm, it will decide whether it should be referred to the Constitutional Council.
The law of November 30, 2021 could have put a definitive end to the exploitation of wild animals in circuses, as is already the case in many countries. Instead, the law makes an aberrant distinction: it bans the use of wild animals in traveling circuses from 2028 onwards, presenting this as a major step forward, while allowing permanent circuses to continue. A crucial distinction. And fatal to all the felines, elephants, monkeys, etc., locked up in circus tents.
Permanent or travelling circuses: equal suffering for animals
This same law also announced in article 46 that “foster solutions for animals are offered to their owners. These solutions guarantee that the animals will be taken in under conditions that ensure their well-being.”
Yet our leaders seem absolutely determined to change their aims. The 800 or so wild animals in circuses are not likely to be left in peace anytime soon. Last year, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion itself proposed the sedentarization of itinerant establishments – a heresy we’d been denouncing for months – through the decree of July 3, 2023 “making equivalent the certificates of capacity for presentation to the public of animals of non-domestic species within itinerant establishments and the certificates of capacity for presentation to the public of animals of non-domestic species within fixed establishments”. In short, circus performers are being offered the chance to “retrain”. Once the cage-trucks are safely parked, confinement and violent training can continue. As for the retirement of animals and their placement in sanctuaries, we can forget about it!
We challenged this decree immediately after its publication last year. As part of this request, we are drawing attention to the distinction between permanent and itinerant establishments, and have filed a priority question of constitutionality. A hearing will take place tomorrow, November 8 at 2pm at the Council of State, which will decide whether it should be forwarded to the Constitutional Council for analysis.
Join us in calling for a ban on the exploitation of animals in circuses.
The Council of State has today ruled that our question should be referred to the Constitutional Council?
This transmission marks an unprecedented turning point concerning animal welfare issues, and opens the way to the recognition of a constitutional status for animals in France. We continue to fight for a ban on the exploitation of animals in circuses in all establishments, whether permanent or travelling.