Bosnia and Herzegovina Among Countries Banning Animal Circuses

The Law on Animal Protection and Welfare in BiH has prohibited keeping animals in circuses and animal circuses since 2009. This places it among only a few world and European countries with that level of animal protection, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

Since the adoption of the law until today, at least in the major cities in BiH, children have not had the opportunity to watch the attraction that older generations enjoyed.

Ibrahim Spahić, director of the International Festival "Sarajevo Winter", told NAP that he would gladly organize a circus in our country, but he fears that there is no longer room for such a thing, even without the law.

- Personally, I think that the circus as a form of theatrical life is extremely important, and I would gladly organize such an event. Unfortunately, the general presence of circuses in BiH has led to the fact that there is currently no room for animal circuses in our country. People do not feel the need for that kind of entertainment at all – Spahić told NAP.

BiH is one of the few countries in Europe that completely prohibits the exploitation of animals for circus purposes. The Law on Animal Protection and Welfare in BiH, Article 3, explicitly prohibits the torture of animals and their exposure to stress, suffering, and fear, while Article 4, point “cc“, precisely prohibits keeping animals in circuses and circus acts with animals.

Anyone who violates this law can be fined from 30 to even 10,000 KM.

A similar law has been adopted in many other European countries. While animal circuses are completely banned in BiH, Greece, and Cyprus, in Croatia, Slovenia, Germany..., only wild animals are not allowed to be used in circuses.

In Spain, for example, organizing circuses with wild animals is banned only in some cities.