Labour councillors shamed by circus animals decision

IN a sad move at Haringey s council cabinet meeting last Tuesday, the ruling Labour members voted unanimously to lift the council s ban on animals performing at circuses in our borough. Some Labour members, in fairness to them, looked a bit awkward at the

IN a sad move at Haringey's council cabinet meeting last Tuesday, the ruling Labour members voted unanimously to lift the council's ban on animals performing at circuses in our borough.

Some Labour members, in fairness to them, looked a bit awkward at the decision, but still went along with it for a year's trial. One Labour member even said that he was ''looking forward to seeing performing cats''.

Would you like to see a cat walking across a piece of string in a circus? Members were told that pets would be the main animals used. The report then went on to bizarrely classify horses and donkeys as pets. How many people in Haringey have horses and donkeys as pets?

Alas, I was the only councillor to speak out against this (the Lib Dem member had gone home) leaving Labour to overturn a popular and just ban. I wonder how many former Labour colleagues, allegedly committed to animal welfare, will support me in October in trying to reverse this decision?

Or perhaps they will just, as usual, follow the whip and complain behind closed doors?

As I mentioned at Cabinet, my party politics may have changed, but my support for animal rights hasn't. It's a shame that Labour in Haringey has dropped an excellent and progressive policy.

Cllr Alan Dobbie

(Conservative) Noel Park Ward Haringey Council

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