Stop this animal circus!

Welshpool is at the centre of an animal rights storm as a controversial travelling circus starts a 10-day run in the town from Friday.

Residents have joined animal welfare groups like the RSPCA and the Born Free Foundation in calling for the big cat event An Evening with Lions and Tigers to be banned.

It features three tigers and two lions belonging to Thomas Chipperfield and posters promote “training displays, educational talks and feeding time”.

But acts like this have been banned in England and Mr Chipperfield is believed to have been refused an entertainment licence to perform in Scotland last year.

Now, protesters say, it is time for Wales to act.

“I am concerned about the continuing use of live animals in circuses because of the obvious stress and psychological damage caused to them due to inadequate, cramped and temporary housing and during the transportation to new sites,” said Mel Chandler, who lives in Newtown but works in Welshpool and is rallying the local opposition. “Why is it that in Wales this practice is still allowed to happen when it has been banned in England?

“This so called ‘educational show’ is a sham to get people to visit under the guise of them having interests in conservation of endangered species!”

The RSPCA has launched a petition (https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/bigstop/circusesinwalestakeaction#) while the Born Free Foundation has labelled it “outdated” and claimed that 98% of people asked in a Scottish survey called for it to be banned.

In a recent interview, according to the Daily Express, Mr Chipperfield said: “Animal rights advocates are always surprised when I tell them I'm just as much an animal lover as they are. But as the only big cat trainer working in the British circus industry that's how I see myself.

“I've lived around, fed, cleaned out and trained animals all my life and I can't imagine anyone doing what I do if they didn’t love animals. My father, who trained tigers before me, says that working with animals is give and take, but it's a lot of giving.

“I would say that it's a lot more giving than taking.

“But the animal rights organisations campaigning to ban circus animals don't care how well I look after my lions and tigers. They don't want me to have them in the first place.”

PICTURE (Facebook): Thomas Chipperfield pictured with a lion