Barlow's brief

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Circus protestors should stop clowning around

Vic Barlow
23/ 4/2008

WHEN Circus Mondao turned up recently in Poynton, I couldn’t decide what was more outdated: a travelling circus or animal rights protestors gathering outside.

The only person missing from their line-up was Wolfie Smith, that iconic TV dissident of the 1970s.

Their slogan: "Don’t go to circuses with animal acts" made "Freedom for Tooting" sound like the work of genius.

The well-meaning souls at Stockport Animal Defenders need to update their strategy.

An archaic travelling show employing more trainers than animals is already doomed, protest or not. If SAD really want to defend animals (and I think they should) they need to employ new tactics.

Dog-fighting rings are sprouting up at an alarming rate and, with huge sums of money at stake, animal welfare is zero.

Puppies are deliberately stuck with needles and burned with cigarette ends to make them mean, and dogs who refuse to fight are routinely tortured.

Unlike the dwindling old circus, these rings are on the increase and I can think of no nobler cause for animal rights protesters than to find out their location and stage demonstrations.

Focusing national attention on the hundreds of maimed and tortured dogs forced to take part in this abhorrent and illegal activity will do far more for animal rights than disrupting a small family circus.

As Wolfie would say: "Power to the people".

The views on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express


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Most recent 2 of 11 user comments

   As the voice of reason says, people are free to choose if and what they protest about. Vic was poking fun at them and deserves pulling up for it especially when dogs are so important to him personally.

The point me and Slinky were making (and that you chose to ignore in your tedious & predictable diatribe) is that dog fighting is arranged by dangerous criminals, involves illegal betting & no doubt other nefarious activities and i can imagine your average punter at such an event being a pretty dangerous person. Some harmless and defenceless protesters turning up at such an event could well end up in hospital or even dead.

I remember you mentioning Gary Newlove and how he got kicked to death by yobs and how disgraceful it was well the people attending & arranging dog fights would make those yobs look like model citizens and they would not take kindly to their activities being interupted. In short, to repeat again, it would be highly DANGEROUS and if Vic feels so strongly he should put himself on the frontline or indeed join the protestors and help them in this quest. I suspect he wont, because it would be highly DANGEROUS.

Please respond Mr Turner and tell me that is isn't.
The Satisfied Customer
5/05/2008 at 04:16
   The comment 'circuses are not cruel' is clearly a matter of opinion, to which you are entitled. Others people, including the protesters, hold a different view, to which they are equally entitled. By protesting, they are drawing attention to the issue, with a view to influencing public opinion and eventually bringing about a change in the law. That's how democracy works! I think the intention of Mr Barlow was to poke fun at the protesters for standing up for something they believe in. However, he misses the point, that that is how change in the law often occurs in this country. He may feel that there are other more 'worthy' causes to protest about, but that again is a matter of opinion. If people were not prepared to protest we would still have the poll tax, women would not be entitled to vote, and our government would have continued to support appartheid. Standing up for what you believe in is a worthy thing to do, and should not be derided and sneered at by newspaper columnists.
Voice of Reason
30/04/2008 at 12:39
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