Hartini-Muller Circus: Press Release
Following an unauthorised set-up in Melun, the Hartini-Muller Circus has just pitched its big top and cages in Houdan, this time with the local council’s approval. This circus keeps several animals, including big cats, in conditions of severe mistreatment. One Voice has filed a complaint with the District Court of Melun.
After setting up without authorisation in the town of Melun, the Hartini-Muller Circus has just pitched its big top in Houdan. Several performances are scheduled between now and Sunday 17 May.
Alarming conditions of captivity observed on site
In Melun, a complaint was filed by the landowner, and the municipality unsuccessfully initiated proceedings to secure an emergency eviction. Our organisation, for its part, has filed a complaint with the District Court of Melun.
Sent to the site, a One Voice investigator observed several animals being kept in severely abusive and illegal conditions. In particular, four big cats – two lions and two tigers – were pacing round in circles in their cramped trailers, but there were also chickens crammed into a tiny cage, a dog equally distressed behind four fences, three ponies, a goat, a horse and a llama kept directly on the tarmac without any bedding. The lions, tigers and dog all display stereotypical behaviour of repetitive actions that betray their deep distress.
Furthermore, the big cats were not taking part in the show but were simply being presented to the public in their cages, in breach of current regulations. By law, their captivity is conditional upon their participation in the acts.
Same family, same practices
Cousins of the Muller Circus – the very same circus that keeps the hippopotamus Jumbo for whom our association has been fighting for a decade – the Muller-Hart family moves from place to place without staying long in any one spot and without giving advance notice of their arrival. This hypermobility is, of course, strategic: it complicates inspections and hinders interventions, despite repeated reports.
These methods, which follow a clear strategy of evasion, are by no means exceptional: they are the norm in an industry that operates with complete impunity. Far from putting a stop to this, the State continues to fund and support them through subsidies, indirect aid and administrative leniency.
Behind every failure on the part of the authorities, there are captive animals of endangered species, silenced and forced to pay the price for this inaction. Animals are not objects of entertainment. Our organisation invites the public to sign our petition calling for an end to the use of animals in circuses.
Hartini-Muller Circus: Press release
One Voice calls for a boycott of the Hartini-Muller circus, currently stationed in Houdan