Circus ringmaster accused of being racist in post

“HURRY with the curry. Should you not be selling samosas (lol). You gonna bomb us!”

This is how McLaren Circus ringmaster Duncan McLaren, who has been accused of being a racist, responded on Facebook when he was questioned about the conditions in which lions and tigers were kept.

The animals are some of the main attractions at the circus.

Facebook user on the “Joburger” group page had posted a picture of a lion in a cage, questioning the fairness of keeping tigers and lions bred in captivity, while “lying helplessly in the heat with no shade, companionship or freedom” referring to animals at the circus.

Lourence van Niekerk from Joburger said he and Keaton Anthony from Grimehouse have been fighting the circus for months since they became aware of the way animals had to sit and wait to perform every day. But Duncan says his allegedly racist comments were in defence after a Facebook user had posted that his father should have left him in his “latex cage”.

He said he had been dragged into the argument because his brother David McLaren owned the circus.

Van Niekerk said the owners had no logical explanation for keeping animals and chose to go on the offensive.

“They are racist, sexist and threatening people who think they can get away with anything. The owners have a great way of responding because the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) can only check if the animals are being fed and there is no hint of actual abuse, the animals are seen as their property. But we are not talking about animal abuse here we are talking about animal rights.

“Using animals in a circus is very primitive, it’s banned in many cities around the world already and most circuses have already seen that it’s not the way forward and stopped.”

Duncan said he was tagged to the post and other users started calling him names. Asked whether he would apologise for his comments, Duncan said: “Yes, but they must apologise too for calling me an animal abuser. I have never owned an animal in my life. I have two kids that I support. I have 40 breadwinners, black people from the Eastern Cape, Zimbabwe that work for us.”

McLaren Circus owner David McLaren distanced his company from his brother’s comments, saying they did not represent the circus. He said the argument got out of hand.