Twenty animal rights organisations have joined forces to organise a symbolic march against the exploitation of animals in an Italian circus heading to Malta for the Christmas period.

The Circus Animal Rights Coalition called upon the authorities to stop Circus Martin from performing in Malta. Circuses used painful punishment to force animals to perform tricks that went against their innate nature and behaviour, Mary Grace Vella from the coalition said during a news conference.

The coalition yesterday organised an awareness activity of its upcoming walk outside City Gate where an activist dressed up as a tiger sat in a chicken-wire cage.

The event will be held on December 8, a public holiday, at 5 p.m. at City Gate. Protesters will walk to the circus tent on the Granaries in Floriana.

Ms Vella insisted there was a world of cruelty behind the facade of circuses, since animals were kept in precarious and dangerous conditions during travel and often ended up performing in unsuitable climates.

The coalition is made up of Moviment Graffitti, Island Sanctuary, Noah’s Arc, Alternattiva Demokratika Zagħżagħ, Nature Trust, SPCA and the Association for Abandoned Animals.