McLaren Circus asked for a right of reply to an article placed in The Bulletin.
The Bulletin posted an article on the 9th of December 2021 as one of our regular ANIMAL 101 articles.
The article was called: ANIMALS 101 – DON’T BE CAPTURED BY CIRCUS CAPTIVITY! You can read the article HERE
At the time McLaren Circus visited Secunda. Karl Hildebrandt, Public Relations Spokesperson of McLaren Circus felt that the article was one-sided and requested that he be offered a right of reply.
We, at the Bulletin, thought that this was a fair request and offered Mr Hildebrandt the opportunity to reply.
Here is their response:
In reaction to “ANIMALS 101 – DON’T BE CAPTURED BY CIRCUS CAPTIVITY!” published by The Bulletin on the 9th of December 2021, Karl Hildebrandt, Public Relations Spokesperson of Mclarens Circus, comments:
McLaren Circus, who has been operating since 2005 and has upheld an immaculate record of healthy and well cared performing animals, totally disagree and distance ourselves from any publication that accuses us, or any other circus, of any form of cruelty without providing circus specific evidence as such.
McLaren Circus complies with South African laws that oversee performing animals.
This law has been in place, for the protection of animals in entertainment, since 1935 and was amended in 2016.
Inspectors from the SPCA are mandated to ensure all animal welfare is met.
In our close to 17 years of operation, McLaren Circus has never been found guilty of any form of cruelty to our animals.
A permit is issued after an inspection from a state vet.
We pride ourselves on excellent animal care and unconditional love for all our animals.
We remain open to unbiased journalists, should they wish to visit our circus for more information and a “behind the scenes” tour, which includes a training session – something which we always allowed fair media to attend
This business concern was wrongly put in a bad light by that incorrect story and should sue this newspaper. They were unfairly attacked by the writer who was full of misinformation. The initial story was totally biased and should not have been printed in the first place. But as we all know we have knock and drop cheap publications that will seek sensationalism at any cost. This is a matter to be reported to the press ombudsman and I truly hope they do so to set the record straight.
This was the response agreed upon by the circus, the Ombudsman and The Bulletin.