Keeping it balanced

"This off the Monte Carlo website, which is a move in the right direction, but I also see it as an elimination of American cage acts ever going to Monaco, it being the Best 0 the Best from around the world don't you know, except for a very, very, very, rare circumstance/situation. I think what they and the ECA have done, possibly without realizing it, has been to endorse a set of standards which fit's their environment, but not the environment of the "World Circus," possibly unknowingly making it a closed elitist "World Circus" in once again, an effort to "get mine, forget everyone else."

The traditional circus will be represented with numbers of animals, selected according to strict criteria of the European Association of Cirque. Are put forward criteria such as living conditions of animals, the size of their cage, their daily treatment and care they provided.

ECA code of conduct.

Animals must be housed as appropriate for their species. They must be provided with protection from the weather, a clean dry stables / living area, fresh bedding, and freedom of movement within their enclosure.

This "criteria" of the European Association of Cirque, address's only "beast wagons" the only mode of housing for felines in all of Europe and Great Britain. I am not understanding what the ECA code of conduct is addressing with the statement "provided with protection from the weather?" As Europe works 100% in tents, with the exception of an occasional building designed expressly for a circus, the beast wagon has become the accepted mode of housing. The self serving illusion being they offer the animal more space and freedom then 8 X 8 shifting cages set end to end with the doors removed which we have addressed in the past. The only difference being the "beast wagons" have a chassis and are 4 foot off the ground, and rolling cages have wheels and are 2ft. off the ground. Caging which is legal USDA approved in the United States would be illegal in Europe, and inadequate for the ECA. Which is good, because the animals in Europe with all the accepted space requirements, spend a goodly portion of there lives outside in the wintertime given the size/chassis of the "beast wagon" and the environment of the tent performance. Somebody has decided that a goodly amount of straw on the floor, with the sides closed on the "beast wagons" is proper housing for protection from the elements for lions and tigers. If water pans are left in the "beast wagons" guaranteed the water will freeze, and as often as not the sides/doors are frozen shut in the morning from the condensation/body heat(unlike elephants, felines do pant) from the animals inside. With our shifting cages, and given the environment of heated buildings in the winter months, our animals are transported in something similar to a "beast wagon" for a short period of time, provided with loads of straw as accepted world wide, and then moved into a heated building, the rare exception being a tent stable with space heaters provided for warmth. I have been called out in many an emergency situation where the heaters has failed, and the temperature has dropped to 30- 40 degrees and the discomfort of the animals is very obvious.
Unless an act can provide both rolling cages for use in the United States, and a "beast wagon" for use in Europe/Monte Carlo forget being part of the "Worlds Best". Ringling Bros. has the resources to provide both a "beast wagon" and rolling cages for animal acts coming from Europe. Their "beast wagons" are kept in a heated building or tent. We can only assume it gets colder in the United States then it does in Europe, or their felines are hardier then ours.