In another landmark decision, Lisbon’s municipal assembly has approved a motion to prohibit circus shows using animals.
The move follows on from a similar vote taken last month in Madeira (http://portugalresident.com/funchal-says-%E2%80%9Cno%E2%80%9D-to-animals-in-circuses), and has been fuelled by animal rights party PAN.
In a perfect example of how small parties can effect huge change, PAN has managed to change the traditional mindset of political colleagues, even though there were a number of abstentions and votes against the proposal by CDS, MPT and PSD councillors.
The news – hardly reported by a media taken up with political scandals – came last week when PAN presented its proposal that will now need to be rubber-stamped by the Socialist-led town council.
The motion called for the city “not to emit licenses to circus shows that include the exhibition and/ or use of animals” bearing in mind that “no form of entertainment should involve the enforced suffering of living things that have been denied the possibility of living in their natural habitat”.
PAN added that circuses invariably attracted young children for whom the attendance at such shows “could in no way enrich them from a pedagogical point of view”.
