Above: As the ADI field officers moved from circus to circus more and more horrors were exposed.
Below: Just some of the many publications and videos that we produced during the campaign. From the outset the campaign was based on hard evidence.
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© Animal Defenders International
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© Animal Defenders International
© Animal Defenders International
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As the horrific footage came back from our undercover te but we knew we had to try. Six years of hard work later a The bill was finally debated in March 2009 and approved as an amendment of the National Animal Protection Law. It then passed in its new form to the Andean Peoples Commission where it was again approved unanimously, in May 2009. The first two hurdles were behind us. We now faced the challenge of getting the Board of Spokespersons to prioritize the bill. The ADI team stepped up the lobbying and met with 100 congress members, while also organising a series of events promoting a public petition in support of the bill.
More suffering exposed, celebrities speak out In May 2010, we undertook another undercover investigation and the new evidence became the core of a new
Key events on the road to ban.... 2005 & 2006 ADI field officers are embedded in the South American circus industry, tracking them across borders, monitoring their every move.
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film titled Unnatural Acts. The film was launched in the Peruvian Congress, and the suffering exposed was so horrific that the event received widespread TV, radio and print coverage. We also presented our petition of over 3,000 signatures to the President of the Congress. The Board listened and, just weeks later, prioritized the bill. Now all we needed was the President of the Congress to pick our bill for discussion on the day. Several Peruvian celebrities – including musicians Julio Andrade, Miki Gonzalez, William Luna, Toxico, and Grammy award winning band Aterciopelado – came out publicly in support of our campaign. After watching a video featuring them speaking out, a
number of Congress members personally wrote to the President of the Congress asking him to discuss the bill in the next sessions. A march was also held in the city in support of the bill. However, the circuses weren’t going to give up without a fight. Shortly after the celebrities spoke out, the circuses started lobbying the Congress claiming that our investigation lacked validity. ADI responded with more video evidence and detailed briefings to counter the claims. At the same time, public pressure was mounting with events in support of the bill continuing around the capital.
2007
2008
April: In Lima ADI releases the shocking findings of the investigation. Huge publicity, intense lobbying, demonstrations and awareness drives follow. In October the first Bill to ban animal circuses is tabled.
An ADI press conference at Congress announces two Bills from the two main parties banning animal circuses. Our report Animals in Circuses the Science on Suffering is released later in the year.
Winter – Spring 2012
Securing the ban During the 2011 elections, we met the President of the Agrarian Commission where it was
ADI