Responsibilities of the Circus Proprietor or Manager

Display Sites

Circus proprietors or managers shall only choose display sites that maximise the size available to the animals. At all times, the display dimensions available to the animals must not fall below the minimum sizes as set out in this document.

Animals must not be housed on a sealed surface (eg. bitumen, concrete, etc). The exception is where the sealed surface is first covered by a suitable material that will absorb heat or cold effects from the sealed surface.

Animals can be housed off-site in alternative, suitable and adequately spaced areas, when:

• animal husbandry demands cannot be met at the venue, or
  
  
• staging performances are held at indoor venues.

Animal Care

During all stages of animal performance, the audience must be encouraged to treat the animals with respect.

Animals must be provided with shelter from weather extremes and have access to clean drinking water when the circus is not moving.

Young animals must not be removed from the company of their own species.

Safety

All circuses must have mobile phones for fast access to emergency services and veterinarians, and a trained first aid officer with a current first aid certificate.

All applications by circuses to hold animals must be accompanied by an escape and recapture plan for each species. These plans should be reviewed regularly and a drill held once a month so all circus staff are aware of the plans and how to action them. The relevant state or territory government authorities and regulatory officers must be notified immediately of the escape of a non-domestic animal, as required by state or territory regulations.

Entrances to the circus ring, exercise yards and transportation trailers for non-domestic animals must be installed. The gate or door must swing inwards.

A keyed lock must be used for all doors, gates and slides to enclosures used to hold non-domestic animals.

The circus ring must have adequate lighting when circus animals are housed within it. Outside performance times, warning signs must be placed on entrance doors to advise there are animals in the ring.

When non-domestic species are on public display, stand-off barriers, at a minimum distance of 2 metres from the display cage must be used.