Bobby Roberts' Circus, Westminster, London

my family and i had went tiosee the circus ...we thought it was a differnet circus and we were horrified when we saw the animals performing, the elephant looked so sad. bobby roberts was aggressive to all his human staff so it was unthinkable about the way he would have treated the animal, they all looked withdrawn and miserable....we had to leave we could nt watch it any more....

i def think he should realise the animals to places where they can live a happy lifes and he should use humans who can speak and make there own decisions about working in the circus .

however i personally will never go back to his circus as i found the man very nasty and would not pay money to see him or his circus ever again

This circus should be closed down. Think of those poor animal who ahave NO life

went to see Bobby Roberts Circus today at McDermaid Park in Perth. The circus is looking old and just hs not the same appeal as when i was a child. Staff looked particullary miserable and found it incredibly strange to see one of the acts selling chips at half time.

At £6.50 a ticket it was a fair amount of time for the money and yes they did ask for money for raffles etc but everywhere you go wants extra and hey it feeds the animals. Was happy to be reassured a little by comment above about animals as have been thinking about them a lot since being at show. Would particularly love to know what vehicle is big enough for an elephant!!!!!!!

One lady in the show rides the horses i had great compassion for her as she shined through with her love for the animals and when you saw her at the side she looked as though she loved them.

Bobby Roberts himself just looked thoroughly bored i am afraid. Tent was half empty i suppose possibly as it was last show and the clown stuck to one side providing little entertainment for the side i was on.

Last year I taught students about the issue of animals appearing in cirucus’s. With that background I was very curious to visit Booby Roberts’ Circus as it not only has animals perfoming but has the last remaining elephant - called Anne - appearing in a UK circus.
It was a moral dilemma attending - but I’m one of those people that believes in witnessing things and then making an informed opinion.
To get in you had to pass about 10 vocal hippy protesters. They were very emotional and I would like to have spent more time talking to them, but the show was about to start. I did read their literature though which was compelling if one-sided.

The thing that immediately struck me about this circus was that it just had an incredible feel of being old, tired and broken down - as though it’s hay day was some decades past.

There was nothing new in the venue. Every sign was tatty. The toilets were in a dodgy, smelly caravan. The lines the ringmaster and the clowns spouted had been polished within milimetres of existence - and the most tired thing of all, was that poor old elephant. A real metaphor for the whole show.

Actually it was worse than run down - it seemed sad and it seemed desperate.

The stalls were only a tenth full - affected no doubt by the protesters. The ringmaster twice spoke directly and bitterly about “those idiot’s outside”.

Also I think because community attitudes HAVE changed towards circus’s with perfoming animals.

What made it even worse was that five times at least the show was stopped so that more money could be pulled out of the audience. Raffles for really hopeless prizes and photographs with the elephant being some of them.

Now it wasn’t all bad! There were some really good acts. The HUMAN acts, particularly the trapeze artists and the juglars were fantastic.

The other animal acts I didn’t like - just because I find it in bad taste - but I couldn’t conclude from watching them perform that it was abusive. I’m used to working animals - and these horses and dogs looked well kept and cared for. The kids present loved the animals and it was a joy to see the wonder on their young faces.

I’m really glad that animal based circus’s are on the way out and I think that the acts in these types of shows will actually improve because of it.

As for Bobby Roberts’ Circus - I feel that it’s fate is tied to that last elephant. Both, very sadly, seem to be nearing their end.