Animals in circuses

April 21, 2006

Dear Sir,

Three years ago I wrote to your paper on behalf of the Captive Animals' Protection Society, a UK organisation campaigning to end the use of animals in circuses. This followed a visit to Bermuda by the Tarzan Zerbini Circus and numerous complaints by concerned residents who contacted us.

We had hoped that international furore caused at that time would make circuses realise that they were not welcome in Bermuda if they had animals.

It is therefore with dismay that I found our organisation being contacted again by Bermuda residents distressed at the pending visit of the ‘Animal Extravaganza' show.

Despite the promoters claim, this is nothing more than an animal circus. Claims of education and conservation are laughable. The last place one will ever learn about the natural behaviour of a wild animal is in a performance such as this, whether it is called a circus or an ‘extravaganza'.

As people found in 2003, animals in travelling circuses live a miserable life of confinement and deprivation, simply to provide ‘entertainment'. Around the world, more countries are starting to ban, or at least restrict, the use of animals in circuses.

There is clearly a large opposition within Bermuda to animal exploitation and we are pleased to see that the SPCA has this time round added its voice to this. The actions of the promoter, in failing to turn up to meetings with the SPCA, and refusing to give any information on where the animals come from, causes a great deal of concern.

We urge people not to visit the ‘Animal Extravaganza', and to complain loudly and firmly to Minister of the Environment, Neletha Butterfield.

For more information on the cruelty of animal circuses, and what you can do to end it, please visit our website www.captiveanimals.org or e-mail us at infocaptiveanimals.org

CRAIG REDMOND

Campaign Manager

The Captive Animals' Protection Society

PO Box 4186, Manchester, M60 3ZA, UK

Just plain wrong

April 19, 2006

Dear Sir,

I would like to add my voice to support the SPCA in their quest to deny DNA Entertainment permission to bring captive animals to Bermuda for entertainment.

To put an animal through the stress of extensive travel for the sake of entertaining people is wrong. There are very few Bermudians who do not have, or have not had, the opportunity to see exotic animals in the hundreds of excellent zoos and animal parks in the US, where animals are kept in conditions that as much as possible mirror their own environment.

To cage and chain up these animals, put them through the stress of a three-day boat journey twice (to Bermuda and back) just to entertain people in Bermuda, is incomprehensible and abhorrent.

Please, bring their circus to entertain us (we have very little opportunity to see live entertainment) but do it without animals.

ANNIE SOUSA

Paget

Whites and the UBP

April 21, 2006

Dear Sir,

I read Rolfe Commisioning's recent Opinion piece on the machinations of the United Bermuda Party and although I don't know the man, except by reputation, I was expecting a destructive, ill-informed bashing of the Government in Waiting. I was even on guard to rebut everything he said and that his piece was an attack on the Party. What I discovered was virtually the opposite.

Rolfe, I agree with almost everything you said.

The United Bermuda Party is supported by probably 99 percent of whites. The swing vote, by definition, is virtually all black. The Party would like to win back the Government because it thinks it can do a better job for Bermuda and Bermudians - not just one flavour. If you know what the goal is and you know what you have to do to get there, it doesn't make a lot of sense to do something that won't get you there. That latter refers to the change of leader - there isn't a person in the UBP that thinks less of Grant Gibbons but it is the likes of Wayne Furbert who will be able to communicate with the swing voter.

Like many other letter writers, Mr. Commissioning lives in the past.

That's where he finds the basis and the justification for his future - and probably his present. I'm not disagreeing with him and I don't deny that what he says is the absolute truth. I don't deny that he and the PLP will always find the easy answer and justification for the way they do business, in the past antics of the white people of Bermuda who are forever identified with the United Bermuda Party. That's his choice but neither I nor most members of the United Bermuda Party want to live in the past.

It is not an easy thing to persuade people that you have learned from the past; tried to correct the mistakes; and, most important, will not repeat them in the future. But that's what the United Bermuda Party is trying to do. Some people will never accept that position either because they don't believe us; don't want to believe us; or it's politically impossible to believe us. But that's where we are. We cannot do much more.

Why do virtually all white people support the United Bermuda Party? Rolfe seems to think it's just because they are white. I think it comes back to cultural values but I may be using the wrong term here. I think white people generally have a core group of values which they find espoused by the UBP. I'm not saying that's good or bad and I'm certainly not suggesting that blacks and the PLP should not be attracted to one another for the same reasons. We have a democracy and people will choose what they want based on what's important to them - we either live in, or based on, the past or we move forward.

JOHN FAIELLA

Southampton

Actions speak volumes

April 19, 2006

Dear Sir,

I am very concerned over the proposed show Animal Extravaganza coming to Bermuda next month.

I find it especially troubling that the promoter failed to show up for a meeting that was already rescheduled for his convenience. This suggests that person knows very well he can't answer the questions he knows will be forthcoming.

It seems clear to me the promoter of Animal Extravaganza has no intention of letting anyone question or examine exactly what he is doing for this show, or what animals will be involved. If everything is as acceptable and above board as they suggest, why is he so leery about talking to someone whose only interest is the welfare of their animals?

PAT BROWN

City of Hamilton

Dolphins ... wild and free

April 18, 2006

Dear Sir,

Thank you for brightening up my Monday with that spectacular photo of a pod of dolphins on your front page! Nothing can compare to seeing dolphins in the wild. I am thrilled as a Bermudian to have the opportunity to see wild dolphins and whales on my own doorstep.

So why do we allow a captive dolphin facility to remain here when there is ample opportunity to see wild dolphins and whales for at least two months of the year? These facilities are banned in the UK on ethical grounds. While Dolphin Quest pride themselves on their research and environmental education they are ultimately a commercial (and non-Bermudian) business that trap and bribe dolphins in order to entertain us.

Dolphins in the wild live for an average of 40 years but in captivity this is cut in half. Dolphin Quest recently discovered that wild dolphins in Bermuda waters can dive down over 1,000 feet yet they keep their own dolphins in less than 15 feet of water.

So many people think that dolphins must be happy in captivity because they appear to be smiling all the time. I wonder if there would be a dolphinarium still existing in the world today if their mouths didn't look like that. It is only when you see dolphins swimming wild and free that you really know what a happy one actually looks like.

LISA VICKERS

Smith's Parish

Let your voices be heard!

April 15, 2006

Dear Sir,

I would like to challenge some of the comments Mr. David Summers made in response to the National Trust's objection to the building of Golf Villas on the Fairmont Southampton's golf course (Published in The Royal Gazette on Thursday, April 13).

The Trust requested a time extension be given before decisions were made. Mr. Summers' reply was that there was a public consultation to discuss the proposed developments before sending them to planning. This meeting was not public; it was only one to ‘neighbours' of the Fairmont Southampton and golf club members. Attendees had to sign in and no other members of the public were allowed into the meeting.

He also stated that the golf course was not an attraction for golfers who come to stay at the hotel. I suggest that Mr. Summers go to the golf shop and get his facts straight, especially on a Sunday when visitors' golf bags are being taken back to the hotel ready for the weekend departures. Many of the golf playing guests completed the Fairmont's evaluation forms and put them in with the club's objection letter; all responses gave very negative comments on the proposed development.

The proposed golf villas, which are to be situated on the higher points of the golf course, are to be sold outright. They are not ‘timeshare' units, or ‘fractional ownreship' homes, but, I suspect, will be sold mainly to non Bermudians. They will not contribute to Bermuda's tourist industry or alleviate our housing problems. To sacrifice this golf course for a ‘one-off' profit is wrong. I played the course today and it was full of Bermudians and visitors enjoying playing on one of the best short golf courses in the world.

One should balance the profit made from a development against the ill-will it may cause amongst the local population. The original owners of the hotel bought the land with a clear stipulation that it was to remain to the public. It is not sufficient to say that what was good for Bermuda 40 years ago does not work now. We must stand up for the preservation of the few open spaces that have been put in trust for us. Let your voices and feelings be heard! Do not let our rights be stolen from us to profit a few foreign owners.

P. DOYLES

Southampton

Closed for holiday

April 17, 2006

Dear Sir,

Are we still serious about tourism? On Good Friday I took a visitor over to Dockyard on one of the morning ferries. To my amazement nothing was open - there was nothing for tourists to see, buy or eat. No shops open, no museum or Commissioner's House for them to look around. We came across two elderly lady tourists who were most distressed advising that the public toilets were not only locked but also bolted! Subsequently we were able to get a drink at The Pirate's Landing and were informed that The Frog and Onion would be opening, but presumably not until 12 noon. Along with a number of other disappointed visitors, we departed Dockyard on the next available ferry.

If we are going to turn tourism around this certainly isn't the way to do it.

ANNE PEARSON

Bailey's Bay