PROTESTERS gathered outside Peter Jolly’s animal circus when it visited Middlewich to show their anger at using animals for entertainment.

Peter Jolly’s circus, one of only two animal circuses remaining in Britain, was on a field opposite the Salt Cellar off Holmes Chapel Road from Tuesday, July 1, to Sunday, July 6, and showcased animals such as lions, tigers, zebras, and camels.

A group of protesters from Middlewich gathered outside the circus on Saturday, July 5, for a peaceful protest and talk about their views to visitors.

Vicky Nicole Williams, from Meadow View, Middlewich, led the protest and is hoping to put a stop to using animals in circuses.

Vicky said: “It’s not acceptable to be treating animals like this for human entertainment.

“We protested on Saturday but now we are launching a petition for the local council to ban animal circuses from coming to Middlewich again.

The protestors were handing out flyers for Pinders circus which was also in Middlewich and were encouraging people to go to that circus instead as they don’t use animals in their performances.

New legislation is set to be introduced in 2015 to stop circuses from using animals but Vicky claims that is not soon enough.

“They will be banned from 2015 but I’m not quite sure why the law had to be passed and then postponed for 2 years.

“If we can protest and get council’s to refuse permission for these circuses to perform in their towns then we can stop some animals from living in prison for another 18 months.”

Peter Jolly’s circus is licensed by the British Government and undergoes regular inspections.

Anthony Beckwith, from Peter Jolly’s circus, defended the use of animals in the circus and claims the protest is ill-informed.

Anthony said: “I can guarantee that none of the protesters have seen firsthand how we treat the animals.

“The information they have will be hearsay coming from second, third, fourth hand.

“There are certain strict guidelines we have to adhere to and we have seven random inspections a year, with the latest being a couple of weeks ago in Congleton.

“I can assure anybody that if we were mistreating out animals we would not be open.”