Coalition for Circus Animal Freedom

“Simply put, it’s sick,” said Ms D’Alessandro. “It’s not natural for them to be doing many of the things they are made to do during the show, like standing on their hind legs or putting their paws up. For me, it’s the entertainment concept of it. If children saw how these animals were trained they would not want to see this show. People all over the world enjoy the Cirque De Soleil and they don’t have to have animals to do it.”

“It’s synonymous with Shrine, circus and Shrine is like bacon and eggs,” said Bob McGregor, recorder for the Ramses Shrine Temple in Toronto, which includes the Oshawa and District Shrine Club as a member. He explained that Shriners conduct dedicated fundraisers throughout the year for children’s hospitals, but the circus is a fraternal fundraiser to cover the expenses for the organization.”

“No being should suffer for another being’s entertainment and that’s exactly what this is,” he said. “It’s cruel punishment for the purposes of capitalist entertainment.”

This train of thought has allowed for the emergence of the Kingston Animal Rights Affinity under the auspices of Occupy Kingston.

“The reason why we are doing this is because the animals are part of the 99%, just like most of the humans on the planet. People tend to forget that humans are animals,” he said.

Over 50 protesters hit the streets in front of the WFCU Centre, holding signs and chanting to draw awareness for animal cruelty.

“We are protesting the Shrine Circus in Windsor,” said Ashley Vallance, a real estate agent from Vision Realty. “We’re hoping we can get enough voices to be heard and hopefully next year we can keep the Shrine Circus from coming back.”

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