We are for animal training! We are for the Russian circus with animals!

This is the appeal of the circus internet community www.ruscircus.ru.  We are for humane animal training! We are for the Russian circus with animals!

The video which has caused indignation of animal lovers spreads on open spaces of the Internet. And the calls for prohibition of animal training in the Russian circus are already heard from all sides. The purpose of this letter is not to protect the “distinguished” tamers – they have to be punished according to their deserts as tutors of orphanages and the careless parents endangering and beating their children are punished. Circus performers of different genres condemn the "wild" training not less than spectators. Let’s don’t lump everything together! Hundreds of people – from the notable representatives of the trainer’s dynasties to their unknown assistants – work in the Russian circus. These people selflessly serve for one great cause – the circus art of Russia, which can’t be imagine without the trained bears and gracefully dancing horses, without surprising smart elephants and sea lions, without funny doggies and terrible predators…

The real training begins with the raising of an animal when the trainer doesn't sleep at nights jumping at intervals of three hours to feed a cub from a small feeding bottle with a pacifier. Occasionally real masters can give a head start even to the veterinarian – so much knowledge is necessary for the trainer dealing with a rare exotic animal. Well-cared, correctly fed animals who have received the veterinary treatment at the proper time live in circus much longer than their wild relatives. It occurs because they are loved!

While the animal grows it is patiently inspected in order to determine its potential. This one will easily get on hind legs and the other one is the born jumper.  That’s just how the circus trainers select their tricks – encouraging and developing natural tendencies and talents, not achieving obedience by force at all. That’s why the Circus of Russia is glorious by attractions with animals, which cause the admiration of the audience. 

And now we are encouraged to refuse from the animal training in circus at all. Let's lay aside the fact that the circus without animals is the brilliant which has lost the most part of its planes. It’s expensive but it doesn't shine, it doesn't please the eye. It is not the original Soviet (now Russian) circus anymore…

And what will we do with the animals? You won't let them out to the wild side because the animals acting in the circus were grown by man. They were born in circuses – as in cases of the tiger’s trainer Nikolay Pavlenko or the dynasty of Timchenko, the trainers of eared seals and sea lions. They were saved from hands of the poachers who had shot a she-bear (oh, we can provide the entire list of names of the Russian trainers here). When we speak about elephants, hippopotamuses or the parrots, for example, which are acquired abroad, let’s make a point that the animals purchased for circus purposes have to be grown up in the nursery and can be sold not earlier than the third generation comes. Some circus animals have such family trees that it’s appropriate to speak about dynasties of the trained animals, absorbed the loving to performances and an applause of the audience with the mother’s milk! Retiring on a pension they grieve without the arena fires not less than old actors …

And the one more lie inspired Russians is that the animal training in circuses abroad was generally abandon. Since olden times in Europe there is the well-known company of the Hagenbecks which is growing up exotic animals especially for performances. Trainers of the whole world including the Russian ones use their services.

The German circuses Krone and Knie work with more than 100 animals, including elephants, rhinoceroses and giraffes. In France the circus of Gruss is famous with the training of horses and the circus of Pinder with the training of tigers. The Reshes, the owners of the circus of Kinos, work with chimpanzees for more than 30 years. The Italian circus of Tony is known for the training of elephants, and this list of the successful foreign circuses showing the animals training can be continued more and more.

Whether the employees of the "green" organizations which are standing up for the termination of the exposition of animals in circus are so altruistic? The German community of the circus friends published documents of the German branch of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). These documents and the facts in them indicate the personal financial interest of the leaders and the staff of the PETA organization. From 3 million euro of the people’s donations these pseudo-defenders spent approximately one million for their own salary and 1.5 million more for the thoughtless propaganda! Over a period of 1998-2012 the American branch of PETA ruined more than 20 thousand of innocent animals in its nurseries that is confirmed on the site http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.

What are these facts talking about? The real help is absent, but the personal financial interest amid exaggerated prestige in the society thrives on. Perhaps we should think of who tries to impose us the opinion and where does the huge amount of money on “the animal defenders” propaganda come from? What effort they can boast besides their widely promoted actions? Where is the real help for animals? Why do hordes of stray dogs roam around the streets of the Russian cities and attack people? Why don’t so-called zoodefenders examine the Augean stables of the agricultural industry but chose as the target the successful Russian circus?

So what is the right thing to do for the Russian circus remains attractive and interesting by its identity with the wealth of traditions of the Durov’s training in order for the children of Russia could see cheerful and skillful animals on its arena? First of all it’s important to make circus open for observers. Using modern equipment, we should give everybody to have a look at tiger cages, elephant enclosures and stables. We can hold some online translations of the trainer’s rehearsals. Let all the people assure themselves of the fact that the video which gained such a wide popularity is not the rule, but an exception.

We kindly request all those who are not indifferent to the destiny of the Russian circus to sign and to leave comments on the circus forum on www.ruscircus.ru.