The public sense and sensibilities with regard to the treatment of animals has changed dramatically over recent decades. What was acceptable in the 1950s is no longer acceptable in the twenty-first century. The welfare of animals, not their entertainment value, should be at the centre of any debate surrounding their use in circuses and indeed in any entertainment scenario.

Wild animals belong in their natural habitat. In the same way that animal fur always looks better on the animal, their natural habitat provides the best living conditions for any such creature. Travelling circus life severely compromises welfare for wild animals. Confinement, stressful transportation, forced training and abnormal social groupings are all a grim reality for the animals, highlighting why this outdated spectacle needs to be consigned to the history books.

There are also clear indications of the strength of public feeling against the use of wild animals being exhibited in circuses. Wild animals in circuses and other travelling shows do not achieve their normal welfare requirements. Evidence would therefore support a ban on using wild animals in travelling circuses and mobile zoos on animal welfare grounds. Their lives do not constitute either a good life or even an acceptable quality of life. 

Forty-five nations have either banned or restricted the use of wild animals in circuses. It is now time that Wales added its name to that list in banning altogether this form of exploitation of wild animals. We in the Brexit Party fully support this Bill, but we also support the recommendations of the RSPCA in their belief that parts of the Bill are too narrow with regard to stopping wild animals travelling with a circus, powers of enforcement and disqualification. A twenty-first century Wales should not allow this sort of entertainment to carry on.