Paraguay bans wild animals in circuses (US press release)

Posted: 8 June 2012. Updated: 8 June 2012

Animal Defenders International (ADI) applauds Paraguay for becoming the latest country to ban the use of wild animals in circuses under Resolution 2002/12 passed this week by the Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente).
Since ADI launched a major undercover investigation of animals in circuses in South America in 2007, a series of bans have swept across the continent as Governments have acted decisively to end the suffering of these animals. Bans are in place in Bolivia, Peru and now Paraguay. Legislation for a ban passed its second reading in Colombia earlier this year and legislation for a ban is well advanced in Brazil.
Jan Creamer President Animal Defenders International: "We congratulate the Paraguayan Government for taking this progressive stand and everyone who has worked to secure this ban. This confirms how people all over the world are realizing that it is no longer acceptable to confine, deprive and abuse animals in the name of entertainment. You have to also ask why countries like the USA and UK have fallen so far behind on this issue.”
The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act which would ban the use of wild animals in circuses throughout the USA is currently before Congress. The British Government recently promised to introduce a ban at the earliest opportunity. There are over 20 countries with similar measures already in place.
ADI dramatically enforced the Bolivian ban last year, raiding eight circuses that had defied the law and rescuing and relocating every animal – including transporting 29 lions to the USA.
In the UK, on June 18th, the trial commences of the owners of Anne the elephant, on charges of failure of their responsibilities under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
- ENDS –
Notes for Editors:
Media contact:
Matt Rossell, Animal Defenders International
Tel: (323) 804-9920
Email: mediadesk@ad-international.org
National measures to restrict either all or wild animals in circuses, have been adopted in:
Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Malta, Slovakia, Sweden, Portugal, Taiwan, Singapore, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Costa Rica, India and Israel. Similar laws are being discussed in the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Norway.
Animal Defenders International
With offices in Los Angeles, London and Bogota, ADI campaigns across the globe on animals in entertainment, providing technical advice to governments, securing progressive animal protection legislation, drafting regulations and rescuing animals in distress. ADI has a worldwide reputation for providing video and photographic evidence exposing the behind-the-scenes suffering in industry and supporting this evidence with scientific research on captive wildlife and transport. ADI rescues animals all over the world, educates the public on animals and environmental issues.
http://www.ad-international.org

'For Jan Creamer and the rest of the folks who are members of the "human race" who have the funds to airship 29 genetically useless lions out of Paraguay and give them food and shelter in the United States for life, there are some children in Paraguay that are still having to work.  FYI:'

BBC News
The commercialisation of agriculture, population growth and forest clearances have led to a dramatic increase in the number of landless families.
This has boosted migration into urban areas and shanty towns have burgeoned. Around 60% of Paraguayans live in poverty.

PARAGUAY: The Struggle Against Child Labour Is Just Beginning ...

Paraguay struggles to eradicate child labor

Child labor data for Paraguay

NATIONAL STATISTICS
* The Statistics Bureau reported that from August to December 2000, 55 percent of boys between the ages of 10 and 19 worked. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)
* According to an inquiry (Encuesta permanente de Hogares 1997/1998) approximately 120,000 children between 10-14 years (16 % of the total) are economically active. (COATI, www.coeti.org.py)
* According to UNICEF, 1 in 3 children (some 462,000) between the ages of 7 and 17 work, many in unsafe conditions. Studies indicate that 42 percent of these children began working by the age of 8, and some 37 percent do not attend school. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)
* According to UNICEF, 1 in 3 children, some 462,000, between the ages of 7 and 17 work, many in unsafe labour conditions. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001 citing UNICEF)
* For the year 2000, the ILO projects that there will be 39,000 economically active children, 12,000 girls and 27,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 5.84% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* The total population of children between 10-14 years is 658,793 whereas the total of economically active children is 233,096. (ILO-IPEC, El trabajo infantil en America Latina - CD-ROM, August 1999)
* The economically active population between the ages of 10-14 years is 49,097. (ILO-IPEC, El trabajo infantil en America Latina - CD-ROM, August 1999)
* In 1995, there were 47,000 economically active children, 14,000 girls and 33,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 7.87% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Thousands of children in urban areas, many of them younger than 12 years of age, are engaged in informal employment such as selling newspapers and sundries and cleaning car windows. Many of the children who work on the streets suffer from malnutrition, lack of access to education, and disease. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)