Only a "moose" could give a quote like that.

2002 campaign slogan:
"Let's get Prince George moving again!"

2005 campaign slogan:
"Let's get bears dancing again!"

Go to News---Wild about animal shows--read Owl's postings.
Then think!!!
Might be time to ignore Moose.

gypsy...How many E mails did you make to the city...Can any special interest group tell the city what to do by sending E Mails...BULL

Krisb:

you said: "if circuses nees to be banned, let's do it at the provincial and federal level"

First - no one is trying to ban circuses, far from it, circuses can be wonderful entertainment for the entire family and should be encouraged. There are several world renowned circuses which do not use exotic animals, including the world famous Canadian Cirque du Soleil

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/default.htm

Second - the conducting of business falls under property rights and is thus a provincial jurisdiction. Provinces, in turn, give the municipalities jurisdiction through such Acts as "Municipal Acts".

Thus, this is the situation in Ontario:

http://www.legalline.ca/animal/459.html

In BC the Community Charter states the fiollowing under Division 9 Section 59

(1) A council may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(d) prohibit the operation of a public show, exhibition, carnival or performance of any kind or in any particular location;
http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/37th4th/3rd_read/gov14-3-pt03.htm#section059

So, you see, we once again have a case of a poster really shooting from the hip not having done their homework and thus dragging an organization's name through the mud.

19 municipalities in BC, including all of the largest, have banned exotic animal acts due to the work of those who are concerned about the conditions such animals experience, including the work of the BC SPCA. That makes BC the most restrictive province in Canada in this regard.

You see, the BC SPCA does know the law of the land and who has jurisdiction.

BTW, the system is similar in the USA and action is taken on the local level as well.

Krisb:

You said "The circuses have no reason to abuse these animals -- they are the bread & butter, and very expensive to acquire."

The implication in your post is that no review is necessary.

Circuses are not the only businesses which ought to ideally pursue "best business practices" in order to ensure that they can stay in business and can present the best service to thier clients.

Thus, we really should not be regulating restaurants since they all have the best interest of their clients at heart and will never use unsanitary practices.

In fact, anyone who agrees with that notion ought to believe that we should not be regulating any sort of business for precisely the same reason you cite.

But society has found over time that we need to because your premise is a false one. Circuses are no exception.

“I have been to a lot of circuses in my life, and I have never seen any cruelty to animals” said Scott

I suspect that 99% of those who have attended circuses would say exactly the same thing. I know I would.

Why? Because few of the general public are experts in the matter. In addition, few are even looking for that when they attend a performance. I know for my part, most of the ciruc acts I have seen were viewed when I was younger than 15, hardly an age, nor a time in history, when the behind the scenes situation dominated my thoughts about the circus.

It takes trained individuals to inspect conditions in any regulated business. While a hair in one's food, luke warm food, mold on the underside of a hot dog bun, etc. are obvious signs to a restaurant patron that you may not wish to frequent that restaurant again, not all food preparation practices are as obvious. Nor are all animal training and handling practices all that obvious.

Councillor Scott's comment is gratuitous and has absolutely no merit and zero value when weighing evidence with respect to reports on the practices of Circuses regarding exotic animals.

DON: you said: "Can any special interest group tell the city what to do"

Most certainly any individual or group can do that. Whether Council will do anything about the directive is another matter.

As far as who wrote to Council on this matter, there were four individuals: Ms Buker, Ms Durkee, Ms Rayner and Ms Dragowska.

I see no Ms gypys ... :-)

You can do your own research in the future by going to the city's site and checking out the agenda. The entire public package which councillors receive is on line. The current one is at:

http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/cityhall/agendas/2005/2005_09_12.pdf

hey these animals deserve the right to make an honest living. lay them off and where do they go? end up homeless shooting up downtown, what kind of a life is that. poor animals. you are dead on DON, special interest groups have too much influence. poor animals on social doggie assistance, that is sad.


later.........

The Three Stooges were one of my favourite comedy routines.