Indymedia York"Broken" Spirit of the Horse demo - report
The abominable "broken" spirit of the horse was back in York again this weekend and animal rights demonstrators were out in force prior to each show. Even though the protestors strove to keep the demo peaceful, at times this was impossible due to the antagonistic attitude of the circus organisers and general public.
A representative from the council was onsite for most of the time, and did approach the demonstrators at one point during Saturday to question their assertation that spirit of the horse was a circus - the demonstrator in question challenged the council representative to give a defination of a circus and suggested that she look up the word in the Oxford English Dictionary!! On Saturday one protestor narrowly escaped injury when one of the circus employees drove directly at him in a lorry - this only galvanised the demo, as such reckless behaviour and obvious lack of respect for life validated the claims by the protestors that the horses are mistreated.
The response from the public was mixed, some people were curious, some engaged in civilised debate, but others were nasty and antagonistic, with one protestor having a bottle of coke thrown in her face and being physically assaulted.
On Sunday prior to the afternoon show, the circus organisers drove their lorry up to the protestors, sounded his horn for nearly half an hour and then approached the protestors using threatening behaviour. This did nothing to dampen spirits and only caused huge convenience and distress for local residents. The police were notified by the demonstrators and the circus employee was reprimanded.
The circus has now moved on to Derby, then will be visiting Manchester - demonstrations will be held at both locations.
Comments
Animal Circus not welcome in York
Wilkie Millar, the broken spirit boss, has been exposed as a liar -
feeding the York Press false stories - see post below - If they tell
lies then they cannot be believed on what goes on behind the scenes -
People know that life on a lorry is wrong for animals and there is
nothing to be proud of forcing animals to perform inane tricks for
people to laugh at.
All animal circuses are distasteful and are most
certainly not welcome in York, and the SoH were so aggressive on the
day of their last show that they cannot expect to be welcomed back to
York.
when they left York in disgrace, a local politician
said "Good Riddance to them, I hope they don't come back" - perfect
sentiments - and the opposition is 10 times more organised now compared
with last year. Opionion polls carried out at the time showed that over
85% of York was against animal circuses and agreed with the protests.
spirit of the horse
i worked on this show for a season and i can tell you that the horses are well cared for a treated correctly as they say no horse no show the horses love to perform and are happy with there life from there i have gone on to producing my own acts in circus and i can assure you my animals are well cared for if not a little bit spoilt so all u ppl who say that the horses r treated horriblaly maybe you should go behind the scenes and see 4 ure self
behind the scenes
We'd love to see for ourselves but broken spirit organisers and such like never let us. God only knows what we'd find out if we did. Apart from that, we can see from the front line that these animals are unhappy, you're exploiting them for human entertainment and consumption purposes. No animal, human or not should have to suffer that.
Animal Circus not welcome in York
Wilkie Millar, the broken spirit boss, has been exposed as a liar - feeding the York Press false stories - see post below - If they tell lies then they cannot be believed on what goes on behind the scenes - People know that life on a lorry is wrong for animals and there is nothing to be proud of forcing animals to perform inane tricks for people to laugh at.
All animal circuses are distasteful and are most certainly not welcome in York, and the SoH were so aggressive on the day of their last show that they cannot expect to be welcomed back to York.
when they left York in disgrace, a local politician said "Good Riddance to them, I hope they don't come back" - perfect sentiments - and the opposition is 10 times more organised now compared with last year. Opionion polls carried out at the time showed that over 85% of York was against animal circuses and agreed with the protests.
Animal circuses are
Animal circuses are unacceptable in this day and age - travelling
up and down the country in trailers and forced to perform inane tricks just for
people to laugh at.
The RSPCA are against all animal circuses and so are the majority
of the British public, and they face public protest wherever they go.
When they were last in York, the (broken) Spirit of the Horse
proved themselves to be LIARS as well - they went crying to the Press to say
that 3000 posters had been taken down from shop windows in 2 days- think about
this for a moment, firstly 3000 posters never went up, and secondly it was
worked out that whoever did this must have travelled around York at the
speed of sound without a break - the truth is that they are LIARS and
made the story up, logically, it could not possibly have happened as they said -
what else do they lie about ???
Liars, and falsifiers - they keep their horses in trailers
trailing up and down the country - every undercover investigation that has ever
taken place has always found that the animals are trained to perform by
punishment - totally unacceptable.
The Sprit of the Horse and any other animal circus are most
certainly NOT welcome in York, they drag the area down and go against all
standards of British decency.
I agree
I agree, just look at the behaviour of the circus employees and their supporters - disgraceful.
I hope that they never come back to York
NOT BROKEN SPIRIT OF THE HORSE
AS A RSPCA AND ALSO AS A VOLUNTEER WARDER FOR THE ILPH WHAT ARE THE PROTESTERS ON ABOUT THE HORSES ARE LOOKED AFTER FANTASTICLY AND THE STANDARD OF HANDLING IS SUPERB, THE SHOW WAS BEAUTIFUL AND PORTRADE THE STORY WONDERFULLY, SOME PEOPLE SHOULD LOOK AT HORSE RACING A LITTLE CLOSER
RSPCA is against all animal circuses
The RSPCA is against all animal circuses and makes this clear on their website. Learn to spell, learn some grammar and learn where the CAPS lock key is, because you have portrayed yourself as someone with litte intellect - perhaps this explains why you enjoyed the circus
Support for Spirit of the Horse
Is it really necessary to be so rude. It's true - the horses are treated very well and are the number one priority of the performers. The animals are much happier and better cared for than many in a riding stables - speaking from experience. I have spent a lot of time with the riders and horses of Spirit of the Horse and, having owned horses all my life, am in no doubt that there is NO cruelty/abuse/mistreatment of the animals.
Hi Liz, this is going way
Hi Liz, this is going way beyond your remit - don't get involved.
errmmm. . . . .
. . . .well, no!
These animals are NOT well treated, they spend months travelling across the country in confined spaces, then are expected to 'perform' twice a day once on-site. The horses are beaten with sticks during their training, and if you don't believe me, go look up the footage on u-tube yourself.
The notion that animals exist for our pleasure is pretty weird if you actually think about - watching animals perform in a circus is tantamount to being an accessory to barbarism, and if posters get rude, can you really blame them???
Animal circuses are cruel and should be banned, end off!
Incorrect
The statement that a woman was assaulted is not correct. Police have stated that the allegation was investigated and found to be no more than an allegation.
Horses in York
Who is next to be condemned as a circus - riding stable! Lets face it this sort of protest is about trying to remove animals from our lives, the consequence is ultimately a world without animals, livestock or enjoyment!
I think you'll find a riding
I think you'll find a riding stable is very different. Most stables are there for the protection and care of horses that are much nearer equals with their riders. Spirit of the Horse involves stunt riders who have to punish the horses to get such unnatural 'feats' out of them. I you just want to ride around and jump a few fences, thats great. Racing maybe a bit of a dodgy one, though its better than it was. Just don't make animals do such stupid unnatural stuff.
This is not about a world without animals, it is about a world where animals are respected for what they are, enjoyed for their companionship and such and not treated as entertainment. And while YAFA I'd guess would mostly be vegans, I'm not and I sure agree with them on this one.
Why are the council so thick?
Great to see people doing this kind of stuff in and around York, especially with the keeping it peaceful bit. It's just like the council to be so completely stupid as to selectively define a circus; I thought the bye-law was that no animals were to be used in any live show? Anyhow, it would make quite a reasonable public campaign to get that changed to ensure this show is included.
I know what you mean about trying to keep a protest peaceful when a company employee starts threatening you. Somewhere I have a photo of fellow protester being shoved so hard by an employee that it was hard for them not to stick their arms up in fright.
All power to you
Well done all. Even just to make a presence outside the event would be excellent. It's important to let people know what's involved. I had no idea it was even happening is York.
video footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn16hIg-Jrs
spelling error!!!
should state "huge INconvenience for local residents"!!!
soz!