First City in Germany Bans Animal Circus

Hessian city sets an example: As the first municipality in Germany, Rodgau will no longer grant municipal spaces to circuses or event organisers that put animals of any kind on display.

In December, the city council had approved a motion by the Animal Protection Party faction by a majority vote. PETA has now written a letter to Mayor Jürgen Hoffmann and the municipal council factions to express its gratitude for this forward-looking and animal-friendly decision. Domesticated animals such as horses, alpacas, and goats also suffer under the far-too-small cages and enclosures, the constant transport, and the unnatural tricks they are forced to perform under harsh spotlights and loud music. The animal rights organisation hopes that further cities and municipalities will follow this example, and is also campaigning at the federal level with a petition for a regulation that includes all animal species.

With this landmark decision, Rodgau paves the way for a society in which the needs of animals are respected and they are no longer locked up for the entertainment of paying visitors or forced to perform unwillingly as circus clowns. A nationwide ban on at least wild animals is long overdue. Ultimately, all animal training acts must be prohibited in order to end animal suffering in the ring and the circus wagon.

Biologist Dr. Yvonne Würz, PETA’s expert adviser on animals in the entertainment industry.

Inadequate Animal Keeping in the Circus

Species-appropriate housing of animals in circuses is structurally impossible. In 2016, the Federal Council called for a ban on wild animals such as elephants, giraffes, and hippopotamuses in circuses. In its motion, it argued that these species are subjected to considerable suffering, regardless of the individual circus operator. Animal welfare violations also occur frequently at establishments that do not keep wild animals, and PETA repeatedly has to urge veterinary authorities to enforce existing regulations there as well. The animal rights organization calls for a fundamental ban on animals in circuses. For even animals such as camels, horses, and ponies suffer behavioral disorders, illness, and often premature death as a result of confinement in small enclosures, frequently inadequate care, constant transport, and training methods characterized by violence and coercion. Germany should follow the example of other countries in this regard: Greece, Malta, and Cyprus have already imposed a complete ban on keeping animals in circus operations. According to a representative opinion poll, 62 percent of Germans — a clear majority — also take the view that animals should not be kept or performed in mobile circus operations at all.

A future without animal acts

Successful circus icons prove that animal-free shows can captivate audiences: Circus Roncalli, for example, bid farewell to wild animal acts as early as the 1990s, removed horses from its program in 2018, and is now entirely animal-free. The company has received worldwide acclaim for this concept and its forward-looking hologram technology.