Beastly tales at circus flayed

MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 2: Jinesh Sha sat cooped up in a little cage. Wearing a monkey suit, he sat cross-legged, tolerating the curious glances...

MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 2: Jinesh Sha sat cooped up in a little cage. Wearing a monkey suit, he sat cross-legged, tolerating the curious glances of people rushing in and out of Churchgate station. It was hot and stuffy but Sha didn8217;t mind because every time someone felt sorry for him, he pointed at the posters outside his cage. 8220;Boycott circuses with animal acts,8221; screamed the posters and Sha told passers-by that while his discomfort was just for a few hours, animals in the circus suffered it for a lifetime.

Sha is part of the NGO Ahimsa which is rallying for protection of circus animals. A group of volunteers tried to get the rush-hour crowd to spare a thought for the elephants, tigers, lions and monkeys who do their acts in the ringed stage of a circus. Some stopped, others were in a hurry.

Talking about the ongoing awareness programme, Dr Satnam Ahuja says: 8220;We just want people to know about this and boycott circuses with animal acts. The response this morning has been encouraging. At least five peoplehave argued with me about the merits of making a boy sit in a cage without water. I told them about the plight of chimpanzees beating themselves in their cages and elephants being tied to a post for hours and they were amazed.8221;

Six-year-old Miloni is also part of the campaign. She loves going to the circus, but doesn8217;t like animals being beaten. 8220;I am distributing pamphlets so that people know about animals,8221; she says. While Miloni tries to thrust one into a student8217;s hand, a curious man stops to read the poster. 8220;What do you expect from me,8221; he asks. 8220;Just read the pamphlet8221; is the Ahimsa reply.

Highlighting the trauma of captive circus animals, the pamphlet tells the story of chimpanzee Suzi. She lives in a metal cage and beats herself up everyday because she doesn8217;t like it there. Then there is the picture of lioness Basanti, who went blind because of the bright lights she was daily exposed to. 8220;Our members attend every circus in town and it8217;s always the same story,8221; Ahuja adds. 8220;There8217;sreally no need to use animals for entertainment. A circus should tap the talent of people, not torture animals. In the West, animal acts are no longer part of a circus. It can work here also.8217;