March 31, 2006 — An international animal protection group on Wednesday called on governments to stop the use of wild animals in circus entertainment, arguing that animals tortured into performing tricks can be a threat to themselves and to audiences.

"Circuses are no place for animals," said Tim Phillips, campaigns director of Animal Defenders International, a nonprofit campaigning group that has been lobbying to end the use of wild animals in circuses since 1991.

"(Their) temporary nature means that there can never be complete safety standards. People have been killed and maimed by animals escaping from circuses," he told a news conference here.

On a campaign tour of Greece that included the cities of Iraklio, Salonika and Halkida, Phillips presented footage of animals beaten during training, filmed by Animal Defenders International field agents who worked undercover at circuses in Europe and South America for up to six months.

The video showed elephants, lions, tigers, camels and horses being struck with iron bars, whipped and prodded with long poles by trainers to perform tricks or vacate their cages.

Several animals in the video were seen performing repetitive movements even when back in their cages, a sign which Animal Defenders International calls "circus madness."

"These monotonous movements are a sign of mental imbalance," the group said in a statement.

Launching a campaign that has already begun in Britain, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the United States, Phillips said the goal of Animal Defenders International, which numbers 35,000 members worldwide, is to limit the activities of circus operatives that ship up to 200 animals from Italy to Greece every year.

A handful of Greek municipalities, including the cities of Salonika and Patras, have banned circuses within their borders, but circus managers nearly always flaunt regulations, said Dimitris Karambalis, a Patras University professor and animal protection activist.

"Some even ignore the restriction of erecting their tents within 150 meters (yards) of schools and homes," he said. "The stench is unbearable...and wherever circuses set up, stray animals disappear to feed the beasts."

"There is a worldwide problem of enforcement," Phillips said. "Circuses move all the time, so they nearly always ignore regulations."