As I have mentioned few times before we have a big square next to our building where occasionally fairs and travelling circuses are performing. In the past years we have been to two different circuses but this summer the one and only Circus Krone set up its tent. Circus Krone is something very special for me as I had been going there a couple of times in my childhood and the circus is just huge. It is one of the biggest travelling circuses in the world and it is in fact that big that the entire square is filled with different tents and all the animals and trucks. The tent has seating space for 5000 people and is just enormous. In my childhood this circus was like the plus ultra of all circuses performing here and this time I was not disappointed either.
Circus Krone was founded in 1905 and has evolved to one of the big names in the circus world. Ever since it was announced that the travelling show would stop here we planned to visit it and which seats to get. Surprisingly all people living around the square got free tickets for an evening show as an apology for noise. This is actually something all travelling shows used to do in the past but it never happened again till this big circus. Of course there is a big controversy about the animals in circuses but at least this one tries its best to have good conditions for their animals. They do have multiple elephants but as two of them got into retirement age they set up a “retirement home” for them in Spain which includes a big outdoor enclosure. Because elephants are needing their herd to feel well they decided to keep their herd together and have all their elephants currently in Spain and thus not performing with them for now. Furthermore all animals have outdoor enclosures so they don’t need to spend the nights in the trucks when having their performance days. Here we hear every day the lions roaring and during the first day our little Haruki was a bit spooked.
Even though the circus has a lot of animals the main focus in the current program is more about the acrobats and they did quite a show. Nathan was so amazed all the time and the two hours of show flew by way too fast. Needless to say the only annoyance for me and many other people where the demonstrations on the street against animals in circuses. Even I got shouted at because I dare to “own” a dog in a city and it is all animal cruelty and how I would feel being on a leash. Haruki got rather scared by the people shouting at us and also the kids got scared. I am all for animal rights but these people take it way too far and in the end even get the normal people against them due to their behavior. Just my two cents about this topic but I had to mention it.
What do you think about travelling circuses?
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It’s nice that they keep their elephant herd together. Hopefully circuses continue to transition away from animal acts–it is very tough to regulate care, and it does make me sad that wild animals who once had an entire savannah (or ocean, in the case of Sea World) are captive now and forced to perform. On the other hand, some animals that were born in captivity might never survive in the wild, and perhaps those kids who see them will never forget how awe-inspiring they are and help protect their wild animal cousins.
Yelling at people who have dogs? That is ridiculous. Dogs are domesticated. Go yell at irresponsible breeders who either make money off of overbreeding/overcrowding or perpetuate genetic lines of dogs that are miserable due to breathing/skin/hip issues (i.e., English bulldogs, Labs, Goldens).
I’ve saved multiple dogs and cats from being euthanized, when my fellow humans screwed up. I think the dogs would agree that being on a leash is worth it to be able to explore and sniff and experience new things.
Germany might be different, but here it’s the cities that produce unwanted pets. They can’t all go to the countryside.
Dont remind me on dich breeders. When researching for Shiba Inu breeders I found all kind of messed up stuff here on Germany. Thing is even when they get reported they only lose the license within that state to own and breed animals, so they just move to another state…
Here it is also with unwanted pets, especially after Christmas. The local animal shelter is always to bursting capacities. Good thing though is that here the animals are not put down and they even finance needed surgeries if the animal needs it. Sadly some pets are on the shelters their entire life when no one wants them. I know also some people who took in multiple dogs and cats in their lifetime in order to give them a proper home and love.
I know only from the circuses I have visited here that they have scaled down their animal performances a lot over the years. Like this circus now as it had nearly only animal performances in my youth and now the majority are acrobats and stuff
I absolutely do not like animals in any form to provide entertainment to us humans.
I really don’t understand the issue with you having a dog in the city…how lucky is your lovely dog to have a lovely family and home – that is what is important. People do take things way too far I agree.
It has been rather messy with the demonstration as they also broke some stuff here in the area
Oh my. Zirkus Krone! Yes, this brings back old memories. I didn’t know they were still around.
Here this circus comes every 3-4 years and stays for a week. Krone has been around for so long, many other circuses I remember from my childhood don’t exist any longer though
I have never been to the circus and I don’t want to go… mostly because of the animals. Dogs are totally domesticated though. They want to be with people and it is not like you train your dog to perform!
For me ina circus the only real interesting performances are by the acrobats and such. Hope they will change here with the performances away from the animal acts