PHOTOS: Mexico City bans use of animals in circuses
June 27, 2014
In this June 22, 2014 photo Alex Fuentes coaches Furia, a female Bengal Tiger, during a performance with the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. The tigers are declawed when they are babies as to not harm the trainers, said Alex, who had suffered an injury a few years ago when one of his tigers bit into his thigh leaving gaping hole. It took him two months to recover. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo performers wait behind the curtain before a show at the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City, Sunday, June 22, 2014. The performers work two shows everyday with the exception of Sundays when they work four shows. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo Karla Rosales, one of the performers with the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus, heads back to the the dressing room between performances in Mexico City. Recent legislation in the city will ban animals from the circus once the law takes effect next year. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
A circus clown participates in a protest against approved legislation that bans the use of animals in circuses, in Mexico City, Thursday, June 26, 2014. Circus performers in Mexico City fear that without their animals they will not survive because they believe people won’t want to come to only see the clowns, the acrobats and trapeze artists. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico Protest )
A trumpet-playing circus clown participates in a protest against approved legislation that bans the use of animals in circuses, in Mexico City, Thursday, June 26, 2014. Circus performers in Mexico City fear that without their animals they will not survive because they believe people won’t want to come to only see the clowns, the acrobats and trapeze artists. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico Protest )
In this June 25, 2014 photo Alma Orocco, the ringmaster, waits backstage at the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. Orocco and hundreds of other circus performers have taken to the streets of Mexico City recently to protest legislation that will ban the use of animals in the circus. The circuses have one year to change their acts or face steep fines. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( APTOPIX Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014, photo a family watches a performance of the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Attendance has been dwindling at the performances after a six-month ad campaign financed by animal rights groups, said Xochitl Fuentes, one of the owners of the troupe. Now, after the recent legislation which bans the use of animals in the circus, Fuentes fears nobody will want to come. “If they take the animals out of the circus the circus is going to die,” said Fuentes, who is mother to four of the brothers who perform in the circus. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo, trapeze artists Bebeto Fuentes, left, and his brothers, Alex, center, and Juventino, right, perform at the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. For five generations, the Fuentes family has been running the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City, but a new law has them worried about its future. Last week Mexico City’s legislative assembly banned the use of animals in circuses, responding to months of pressure from animal activists. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( APTOPIX Mexico Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 25, 2014, photo, Bebeto Fuentes, one of the performers with the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus, wears a vest with a sequined image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Like many of the performers at the circus Fuentes performs in a variety of capacities including trapeze artist, clown, acrobatics and animal trainer. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo a tiger jumps through a ring of fire during a performance of the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Besides frequent training sessions the tigers only leave their cages for daily performances. Mexico City and six of Mexico’s 32 states have now banned circus animals. Nationwide bans on circus animals have swept through Latin America recently, and Fuentes, along with other performers at his family’s circus, fear a Mexican federal law is sure to follow the capital’s law goes into effect. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 25, 2014 photo the entrance to the circus is vacant between performances in Mexico City. Sandwiched between a Sam’s Club and a Wal-Mart on the outskirts of the city the circus has been in existence in one location or another in the city for five generations. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo, circus performers ride a horse during one of their routines with the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Recent legislation in the city will ban animals from the circus once the law takes effect next year. The law promises steep fines for noncompliance. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( APTOPIX Mexico Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo Brenda Huerta, age 6, and her sister, Daniela, age 5 react to circus animals during a performance of the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Circus performers fear that without their animals they will not survive because they believe people won’t want to come to their performances only to see the acrobatic, trapeze and performances by clowns. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo, Aineses Macias waits to perform during the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Like many of the performers in the circus Macias was born and raised in the circus. Recent legislation in the city will ban animals from the circus once the law takes effect next year. Many circus performers fear they’ll be out of work without animals because people won’t want to come to the circus only to see the acrobatic, trapeze and performances by clowns. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 22, 2014 photo Furia, a female Bengal Tiger, looks at Alex Fuentes, the trainer, during a performance with the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Besides their daily feed of two whole chickens, Fuentes still on occasion feeds the tigers special nutrient filled milk by hand out of a baby bottle. “Its good for their digestion,” he said. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
In this June 25, 2014, photo, Bebeto Fuentes coaches Boster, a camel, during a performance with the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Besides the camel the Fuentes Gasca Brothers also own horses and other exotic animals including tigers and a zebra. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
Karla Rosales, center, a performer in the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus, leads a chant during a protest against approved legislation that bans the use of animals in circuses, in Mexico City, Thursday, June 26, 2014. Circus performers fear that without their animals they will not survive because they believe people won’t want to come to only see the clowns, the acrobats and trapeze artists. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( APTOPIX Mexico Protest )
In this June 22, 2014 photo Alex Fuentes prepares before a trapeze performance at the Fuentes Gasca Brothers Circus in Mexico City. Like many of the performers in the circus Fuentes was born and raised in the circus where his father was also an animal tamer and trainer. Fuentes and other performers at the circus fear that people won’t come to a circus without animals. “It’s the circus, its magical and its what I’ve dedicated my life to since I was 15 and now they want to take away from me what I’ve desired my whole life,” said Fuentes, now 30. (AP Photo/Sean Havey) ( Mexico City Circus Animal Ban Photo Gallery )
Categories: News, Offbeat, Syndicated
Tags: photo