Courtney Brothers Circus Protest Day 4

July 9^th marks the final day of the string of protests that commenced on July 6^th , these protests were set up in order to inform the public on the mistreatment of animals that the Courtney Brothers Circus houses. The protest commenced at 19:00 on Liam Mellows Avenue across the road from where the Courtney Brothers Circus had set up their tents for their show. There was a significant increase in the number of people who attended the protest and participated in the protest alongside the other members who stood in the allocated area and held up their banners. There were approximately sixteen people attending the protest. Upon my arrival to the protest, a member of the Courtney Brothers Circus was standing amongst the other protesters trying to instil discomfort with his presence, remaining silent while he looked at the protesters along with periodically checking his phone. The protest went on as normal with people driving by and occasionally giving their support through beeps from their cars. It should be noted that some people even gave multiple beeps, and the protesters acknowledged these acts of encouragement.

Courtney Brothers Circus member hanging around near the group of protesters

Protesters waving at a passing vehicle as the driver beeps at them to show support

As time went on, the circus workers commenced what can be seen as a wave of intimidation against the Protesters which started off as mild attempts at intimidating the protesters, but as time passed, the workers constantly harassed the group of protesters. The onset of the intimidation came in the form of a Counter Protest as a group of people who worked at the Courtney Brothers Circus grabbed a number of banners that represented the circus, and ran across the road to join the protesters, the banners for the circus clashing with the banners that were emphasizing the message that the protesters were trying to broadcast. This was not a very strong attempt at intimidation for the circus workers who joined the protesters did nothing, but hold up their banners and stand amongst the protesters who did the same. Both groups acted in a similar manner in the sense that they were both quiet and held up their banners, the only noise being made was the periodic cheering as drivers went by and beeped the horns of their car in order to show their support. The only difference between the two groups of protesters was that some of the circus workers were somewhat more boisterous and certain workers from the circus made a dancing motion, waving their banners from side to side. The protest remained peaceful and after some time, the circus workers went back to the circus tent.

Three circus members holding up their banners alongside one protester holding up a banner with the opposite of “the tigers are coming”

Group photo of the protesters including the circus workers

Things became confrontational from the side of the circus, as the male worker, who was quite notable last night due to his behaviour, started taking photographs of the protesters. The main focus of his photos was that of a dog that was owned by another protester. The reason for the worker’s interest in the dog was that the dog was wearing a muffle and this is quite notable in the sense that the male worker was not only focused on taking photographs of the group and the dog while it was wearing the muffle, but the worker was also quite keen on frequently mentioning the muffle that the dog was wearing, making statements that our group was protesting for the welfare of animals and on that very same spot, there was a protester who had a dog wearing a muffle. Other protesters pointed out the purpose of the muffle, taking the safety of other pedestrians into consideration. However the worker ignored these claims and continued to belittle the group because he considered the protesters to be quite hypocritical. It should be noted that at first; the worker was taking photographs of the group using the camera that was equipped on his phone, but as time passed, the Courtney Brothers Circus worker utilised a DLSR camera for the purpose of taking photos of the group. The worker would also occasionally run across the road to take photos of the dog up close.

Worker taking photos of the group from across the road using the DLSR camera

Video of worker belittling the group (it is hard to hear with the car horns, but he is making the statement that the protesters are making a demonstration against the circus’s treatment of the animals while one of the protesters owns a dog that wears a muffle)

Video of worker taking pictures of the dog up close

The harassment coming from the circus worker then changed to two attempts at propaganda. The first attempt was the worker telling a young member of the Courtney Brothers Circus to run over to the group of protesters and offer some water to the dog that was with the protesters, from a metal bowl that the young member was holding. The worker tells the young member that he wants to get a photo of the young Courtney Circus member offering the dog the bowl of water. This caused a rise in tension as the protesters opposed the member’s actions and they did not let him offer the dog the water that was inside the metal bowl he was carrying

Photo of the young member with the bowl of water

Video of the male worker telling the young member about the photo he wants to get

The second attempt at propaganda was the onset of the peak of the circus’s intimidation as they got a  man, who was most likely someone who was associated with the circus, to walk over to the group of protesters and lecture them about discriminating against the dog that was wearing the muffle. The spectacle of this event came when I started to record the man giving the group of protesters this lecture for the purpose of this blog and once I started the recording, the man told me that he did not want his photograph to be taken. However unlike the female from the circus who told me that what I was doing was illegal, the man who approached the group was quite forward with regards his statement of not wanting his photo to be taken, as he put his hand over my camera. When he started doing this, the other group members told him to stop and to not touch one of the other members of the protest. The man then continued to belittle the group about the dog, even pretending to pity the dog as he leaned towards it and called it in a fake motherly tone. The man then walked away alongside the male worker of the Courtney Brothers Circus, making note of the fact that we are discriminating against the dog that was wearing the muffle. It should be noted that this doesn’t end with the men just walking across the road because once they crossed the road the man who lectured the protesters made a sexual gesture towards the group and walked away. Very much like the two men who posed right in front of the group of protesters on the sixth of July, this event was most likely a propaganda attempt as the man had some association with the Courtney Brother Circus as he continued to echo the same statement that the male worker at the circus was broadcasting.The circus tries to use this man as a way to try to make it seem as though  there are people that agree with them and their activities; using animals for live entertainment.

Video of the confrontation with regards the photograph

Photo of the man calling the dog

Following this event the male worker at the Courtney Brothers Circus continued to harass the group of protesters through a combination of repeating his words on the subject of the dog wearing the muffle and through whistling which is one way an owner calls a dog over to him/her and thus not only was the worker harassing the group through belittling them for nothing and showing fake pity for the dog, but  now he was putting a dog’s life in danger as there was another dog present that belonged to another member of the protest. The potential danger mainly lied in the potential for a dog getting run over by an oncoming car as it crossed the road to answer the worker that was whistling. It should be noted that the protesters made note of the implications of the male worker’s whistling, however he seemed ignorant of the presence of the second dog and thus when the protesters demanded that he cease his whistling along with adding the implications of his whistling, he notated that the dog wearing the muffle was on a lead before calling the protester who told him to stop a “fool”. Tension was rising as the male worker continued to whistle for the protester’s dog along with persistently harassing the group and thus the protest came to an end as the participants concluded their campaign for this evening and headed home.

Video of the worker whistling for the dog

Before I make my closing statement I would like to add a small point of interest which was a small set of horses that could be seen on a stretch of land at the back of where the circus tent was positioned. This is interesting in the sense that this is the first time in which I have seen the animals that have been used in the circus in plain sight rather than the animals being hidden like they usually are, however it should be noted that the animals are still hidden in the sense that the horses are barely within plain sight as one would have to go up close to the area in the photograph below to see the area where the horses are kept and there are still other animals that are hidden from the view of the general public

Photo of the horses

With regards this evening’s protest, I must say that in terms of the number of people that participated and the amount of support the protesters achieved during the period of time in which the protesters were positioned at their spots for the protest, the evening was a success as there was a maximum of sixteen people who attended and a significant amount of people beeped to give their support to the protesters. However the positivity is dulled by the immaturity and malicious behaviour of the people who work at Courtney Brothers Circus as they constantly harassed the group of protester, not only through their Counter Protest, but also through the accusation that they made that the protesters treat their pets no better than the circus members treat the animals they house, and the intimidation by the man, who the circus most likely sent to lecture the group of protesters about the supposed discrimination of the group’s protest. To close this article, I would like to say that alongside the success of the protests, there have been many other trifles that have been made in terms of the general theme of circuses that utilise animals for entertainment as certain circuses have ceased the use of tigers in their circus, for example Aran announced on their Facebook page on June 23^rd 2013 that Duffy’s circus owner announced that lions and tigers will not be performing in any more circus acts for the long term future, and thus not only have the protesters campaigning against the Courtney Brothers Circus met a substantial amount of success, but there have been trifles on other ends too and I hope that there are even more successes with regards animal welfare in the foreseeable future.

References

Facebook page for the protesters: https://www.facebook.com/groups/arklowagainstanimalcruelty/
Facebook page for Aran: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ARAN-Animal-Rights-Action-Network/155913217835225

Courtney Brothers Circus Protest Day 3

July eight, the third day of the set of peaceful protests that have been set up in order to broadcast the message that the Courtney Brothers Circus is mistreating its animals as Day 1 shows their history of neglect towards the animals that they keep for the purpose of public performances. Today’s protest started off as the standard peaceful protest in which the group stands in the area, Liam Mellows Avenue, Arklow, County Wicklow,  that has been allocated for the purpose of broadcasting it’s message through the banners they hold, however a particular member of the Courtney Brothers Circus walked around the group and sat on a nearby bench. Promptly a member of the protest took a picture of him sitting on the bench for the member was most likely sitting there for the purpose of inducing discomfort amongst the group of protesters for the purpose of painting the protesters in a negative light. However once the picture was taken, the male circus group member stated that what the photographer was doing was illegal, a line which was basically an echo from the previous night as I tried to take a picture of a female member of the Courtney Brothers Circus who sat on a curb when the protesters were getting ready to leave on July the seventh and, very much like the male member of the circus in the present event above, she stated that what I was doing was illegal. It should be noted that while the picture was being taken one of the protesters was ringing the guards as she felt quite uncomfortable with the male’s presence among the group. Following the male’s claim that the protester taking his picture was performing an illegal action, the photographer made a counter claim which was that the members of Courtney Brothers Circus have been taking pictures of the group of protesters or have taken pictures in which the group of protesters could be seen in clear view, and a short argument ensued to which after it’s quick conclusion, the man returned to the entrance of the circus and he took a picture of the group of protesters. Once the Courtney Circus member returned to the Circus, the protest went on as normal

Picture of men posing, note how the group of protesters are perfectly visible (Picture taken on day one)

As time went on, the same man returned to the bench and sat there for a period of time. He was static, doing nothing except for looking at the group and checking his phone at times. I would like to note that despite the above account describing how he reacted right after someone started took a picture of him, he did absolutely nothing when I was taking photographs. He just remained in the same position for a period of time. Eventually he crossed the road to go back to the Courtney Brothers Circus and hung around the entrance of the circus alongside another male. The spectacle of the day beings here as the circus group member makes a number of gestures at the protesters, for example sticking his middle finger up at the protesters while children were nearby. This sparked off a very negative reaction as some people notated that the gestures that the men made was quite immature and that it was quite foolish for them to make such gestures, especially since there were children who would have seen these men making these gestures in plain sight. However it should be noted that people attended the circus regardless of the gestures that the worker made near the entrance of the circus itself.

Worker sitting on a bench observing the protesters

The spectacle of the protest reaches its peak when the Gardaí arrive on the scene to investigate the events of the protest that have led to a member of the group of protesters calling the Guards with a complaint about the workers at the Courtney Brothers Circus. To start off the two Gardaí members approached the group of protesters and requested that the people who witnessed the event in which the circus workers were aggressive towards the group of protesters, give the guards their name and contact details. The guards then proceeded to ask the group questions regarding the event so that they can get an overview of the situation. One of the female members of the Protesters explained the situation to the Gardaí officers who were on the scene. She stated that the members of the circus had been walking around the protesters and taking pictures of the group as the protests went on. Once the officers heard the protesters’ side of the story they then spoke with the male member of the Courtney Brothers Circus, who had been intimidating the protesters. He then gave his side of the story with regards the current situation that led to the Gardaí being called and after he explained what the situation was from his perspective, the Gardaí officers talked to the protesters again. The two officers advised the protesters to leave the scene once the two officers were gone and while a small number of the protesters stayed behind, the majority of the protesters went home.

Gardaí discussing the situation with a member of the Courtney Brothers Circus

Gardaí discussing the situation with the protesters

As one can easily tell from the general description of the day, my opinion of the day is not very positive as I felt that today was quite unsuccessful. Even though there were a number of people who gave their support through beeping at the group in encouragement and general people walking by and taking interest in the protest along with taking a flyer, the situation with the Courtney Brothers Circus workers dampened down the entire experience because of the fact that the Gardaí had to be called in which caused a ridiculous amount of tension as I constantly feared that something was going to happen. At this point I can only hope that tomorrow’s protest goes well as it is the final day of the set of protests as tomorrow is the last show that the Courtney Brothers Circus will be hosting in Arklow.

References

• Facebook page for the protest: https://www.facebook.com/groups/434993566598836/
• Courtney Brothers Circus Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/courtney.circus

Courtney Brothers Circus Protest Day 2

Sunday, July seventh marks the second day of the set of protests on Liam Mellows Avenue, Arklow, County Wicklow. The set of protests are a peaceful opposition to the Courtney Brothers Circus in Arklow which features various animals and as discussed in Day 1, the circus has a history of animal mistreatment. On the Sunday two sets of protests occurred; one during the afternoon at 16:00 and one during the evening at 19:00. On both of these times the protesters would meet at the designated position and remain in that position for the allocated period of time that that has been organised by the group of protesters. Prior to the beginning of the afternoon protest, there was a group discussion. The topic the discussion involved certain aspects of the Courtney Brothers Circus or other circuses with regards the treatment of animals and certain comments that were directed at the group of protestors on Facebook. The comments that the members discussed were usually in alignment with the Courtney Brothers Circus. Following the group discussion, everyone took their positions and resumed the peaceful protest that commenced on Saturday the sixth of July.

Group discussion between the protesters

During the afternoon protest, there was a substantial increase in membership in the sense that there were more people, approximately 12 people were present, who participated in the protest itself; standing alongside the group of people and holding up the banners containing pictures and captions that were on the subject of animal cruelty or the poor standard of living for the animals that live out their lives in a circus. However there was a slight change in the air of the banners as the general tone of a number of the banners differentiated from the tone that is generally found in other banners that wish to broadcast a message to the general public. It should also be noted that some of the new banners seemed to be quite comical also, for example one of the banners was just a blank sheet with the word “honk” written on it. Some new banners made by Aran were also brought in to accommodate for the increase in the number of people who were participating in the protest.

Examples of the new banners

There was very little intimidation at first, in fact, when the protesters commenced their peaceful demonstration there was no direct or indirect opposition to be noted, but as time passed, there was a slight increase in the intimidation that was being committed against the group of protesters and while this was sourced from one of the workers at the circus, it was quite minor and it was the only time anyone had attempted to  intimidate the participants who had set up positions across the road from the Circus. One particular member of the Courtney Brothers Circus who was standing near the entrance to the circus had passed a particularly negative comment which was not directed at the group of protesters, but rather it was directed at a particular person who drove by and beeped the horn of their car in order to give some support to the protesters. As the driver was passing by, the worker referred to the occupants of that vehicle as a “fool”. Following this event there was nothing more to note with regards intimidation as the circus worker remained somewhat silent except for the occasional beep sound that they made with their mouths as drivers beeped to give their support to the protesters.

Video recording of the circus worker commenting on the support being given to the protesters

Despite the busy afternoon at the Circus, there was a significant amount of support from the general public for the protest as a large amount of people drove by and, very much like the sixth of July, shouted out words of encouragement to the protesters and to acknowledge this support the protesters often raised or waved their hands, put out their banners and smiled. There was also a growing interest amongst the public with regards the protest as there were people who walked by the group and accepted the flyers that were being given out by certain members of the protest.

Protesters acknowledging the support being given to them by a driver

Flyer being given to people

One of the most notable events that occurred during the afternoon involved the curiosity that the protest seemed to invoke in a set of children who were going to attend the circus alongside their mother. When the children caught sight of the protestors holding up their flyers, they sought information from their mother as they were curious as to what the protesters were doing. In reply to their question, the mother explained the purpose of the protest and the message the protesters were trying to emphasize.  She then let the children make a decision for themselves in terms of attending the circus or just going home. The children chose the latter and the group of protestors applauded the children’s choice to go home instead of attending the circus.

Protestors applauding the children

The evening protest was about the same as the afternoon. However there was a decrease in membership as there were only seven people who participated in the protest. The difference in membership was the only notable difference between the evening protest, commenced at 19:00, and the afternoon protest, otherwise the protest was about the same as the protestors continued their protest in a peaceful manner, letting the writings and the images that accompanied those writings broadcast the main message.

Evening group

There were a number of strange events that occurred during the protest however. As the support normally came in the form of beeps and encouraging words from drivers passing by in their vehicles, one woman came up to us and asked us about the protest along with asking about its purpose and while this showed that the protest in general had some support from the public as members of the protest discussed their intentions , accounts from other members of the protestors showed that the Courtney Brothers Circus was acting strange as the discussion went on as members of the circus stood outside the entrance and took photographs of the group speaking with the woman. This is quite strange as there is no reasonable explanation as to why the members of the Courtney Brothers Circus were taking photographs of the protesters as they were just basically explaining the purpose of the protest to a pedestrian and thus the photographs that the members of the circus are taking were of no relevance to the circus at all. Another strange event occurred at the very end of the protest when everyone was about to leave the designated position in order to head to their homes as a woman who worked at the circus walked over to the designated spot that the protestors were using as their designated area for the protest, sat on the curb and formed a pose. When I pointed my camera to try to get a picture of her posing, I was under the impression that this was another propaganda attempt that was similar to what the two men were doing yesterday, the woman caught sight of me trying to take the picture and she reacted by covering her face and stating that what I was doing was illegal, despite the fact that she was in a public place and there is no law against taking photos of a person. I only knew this after the event so I avoided taking the picture.

Protesters describing the purpose of the protest to a female pedestrian

My general opinion of today is quite positive as the support that the people of Arklow gave to the group during the protest was amazing from my perspective as a large amount of people who drove by often beeped the horns of their car and shouted to us and encouraged us to continue with our peaceful protest. The protest remained peaceful despite intimidation from the workers at the circus and it should be noted that, although they didn’t directly try to intimidate the protestors, the behaviour of the circus worker during the afternoon protest was atrocious as he is a worker at the circus, a place that is trying to gain publicity and rather than just acknowledging the person’s positive opinion of the protestors he goes as far as to pass an immature comment about the driver who gave some support to the protestors. Despite this negativity and the strange activities of the circus workers during the evening, the evening and afternoon protests went quite well and gained a large amount of support from the general people.

References

Event page for the protest: https://www.facebook.com/events/159137384270971/?notif_t=plan_reminder

Courtney Brothers Circus Protest Day 1

July 6^th 2013 marks the beginning of a set of protests on Liam Mellows Avenue, Arklow, County Wicklow,  that has been set up in an attempt to bring the attention of the public to the mistreatment of  the animals that the  Courtney Brothers Circus, a circus which was formerly known as the Great European Circus in 2008 and prior to this year it bared the name; The Royal Russian Circus and finally in 2011 a third name change takes place to the present name, keeps in captivity for the purpose in performing in the shows that are hosted by this group. Notable examples of the mistreatment of animals by the hands of the Circus Group include the poor living conditions that the animals face whilst they are being kept by the Circus as an article in the Irish Daily Mirror notates the Circus’ inability to provide adequate living space for the animals that the Courtney Brothers Circus group houses in its headline through making a reference to the reaction of a photo which shows the tigers living in a steel cage which was that of great anger towards the group and absolute horror at the pictures which are described as pitiful by the headline in the article. It should be noted that while the picture clearly shows the tigers’ living space as being rather poor, spokesman for the Animal Rights Action Network states that the existence of these tigers has been narrowed down to nothing more than living in a small steel cage with nothing more than a solitary tire for their mental stimulation, Courtney Brothers Circus has made counter claims against the claim of animal cruelty as member of the Circus, Jim Conway questions the motivation of the photograph as he notes that it gives a negative impression and he also notes that not only are the tigers living conditions suitable for their needs, he gives the opposite picture to the one that is shown in the photograph as he notes that the tigers live in big cages with water and a large amount of tires to play with along with mentioning the dimensions of the travelling trailer for the tigers which are 45 feet by 8 feet, stating that the tigers are not being mistreated whatsoever.

                                                                  

One of the banners held by a protester which depicts an image similar to that shown in the article describing the poor living conditions of the tigers

The protest on the sixth of July 2013 was a peaceful protest, in which a small group of people, a maximum of twelve people, came down to present various banners which presented various pictures and captions which were on the subject of the animal cruelty within circuses. The protest did not extend beyond the people in attendance standing at the designated spot for the protest, across the road from the circus, and holding up their banners regardless of any intimidation at the hands of people who were either in support of the circus or from members of the circus in general. Minor examples of intimidation can be found on an article that was published by the WicklowNews.net which includes certain remarks being made by a man and his wife who noted that Ireland was in a Recession and that the attention of the protesters was focused on the animals rather than on the issue that the couple thought was important. Another example of intimidation came from a parent with three children who shouted at the group of protests prior to entering the circus to view the performance. The protesters ignored this intimidation and any support that was given to the group of people, this came in the form of people beeping the horns of their cars as they drove by and shouting words of encouragement at the group of protesters.

Protesters waving and holding up their banners in reaction to the support given by the drivers who were passing by

As the protest went on, two members of the Courtney Brothers Circus walked across the road to the designated spot where the protest was taking place and posed right in front of the group for another member of the Circus who was standing in front of the entrance to the circus with a camera. While there is a variety of ways to interpret this action, one of the actions which could be quite likely is that this is another act of intimidation and perhaps even an attempt at Propaganda as their presence among the group of protesters would have destabilised the air somewhat within the group and possibly increase the likelihood of one person or a number of people reacting to their presence in a negative manner. This negative reaction is possibly what the picture the photographer standing at the entrance of the circus was hoping to capture as such a picture would change the viewpoint of the public with regards the protest as the public would most likely think of the protesters as an extremist animal rights group. So far their attempts at intimidation and propaganda have been quite unsuccessful as there was no reaction whatsoever to the presence of the two men when they did their pose right in front of the group of protesters. The attempt at propaganda was also recorded by a member of the protest which not only shows the two men walking over and doing the pose, but it also shows the photographer who was taking pictures from across the road.

The two men posing in front of the group

                                             Video recording of the propaganda attempt

Aside from the small events in which different people attempted to intimidate the group of protesters there was very little opposition to the group of protesters as they stood in their designated area and there was seemingly a large amount of support for the group of protesters as people drove by and gave their words of encouragement to the group and some people were interested in the protest as it continued. A significant example included the young people who were present at the protest as their friends who were walking by, took an interest in the protest and went over to the young people at the protest and the young people who were participating in the protest and their friends discussed the banner that the young people were holding and the general protest that was at hand.

In my general opinion, the first day of the protests that commenced at 19:00 on the sixth of July 2013 was quite successful in the sense that the majority of people who walked by the group of people who were participating in the protest gave their support to the protesters through beeping and waving at the protesters while they drove by and through shouting words of encouragement at the protesters. The only negativity that was present with regards the protest was the minor events in which the group was intimidated by the people who were in support of the circus along with the possible propaganda attempt that was being done by the circus itself. 

References

• Article about the living conditions of the tigers: http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/outrage-circus-tigers-tiny-cages-1990908
• Facebook page of the protesters: https://www.facebook.com/events/159137384270971/?notif_t=plan_reminder
• History of circus: http://www.irishcircuses.org/great-european-circus