‘Animals are my children’
Mario Sali kisses a tiger on its nose and the big cat responds by licking him back through the iron bars of its cage.
As he makes a tutting sound to attract the tiger’s attention, Mr Sali rubs its underbelly.
“These animals are my children,” he tells journalists invited to see the animals on display at the circus that has set up tent in Naxxar.
Mr Sali, 61, owns Circo Fantasy and is the fourth generation of his family to be born in that lifestyle.
He points to his arm where a crocodile bit him some 40 years ago. “I still love animals,” he says fully aware of the concerns raised by animal rights activists on the treatment of circus animals.
Mr Sali insists the 80 animals that form part of his circus are all born in captivity and are domesticated. They are not trained to do circus acts, he adds.
He acknowledges the “only problem” is that the animals live in cages but justifies this by pointing out that they were born there. The main attraction is a 400-kilogramme white Siberian tiger that paces back and forth in the arena under the big tent surrounded by metal bars.
“Don’t put your hand inside,” Mr Sali cautions journalists. Lying down in the same arena is another tiger, eyes fixed on the camera.
Mr Sali’s circus includes camels, ostriches, horses, pumas, snakes, crocodiles and a tapir. A small white horse was bought in Malta three years ago when the circus last visited.
As he walks past the cages, calling out the names of the animals, Mr Sali insists that if his animals were not well kept it would show.
“Animal rights activists have to spend a month with us to see how we treat our animals before they dish out criticism. We have raised them since they were young and I don’t want to abuse them,” he says, urging activists not to create problems outside the tent. Mr Sali’s justifications for keeping wild animals are unlikely to allay concerns raised by animal rights activists. In a recent document presented to the political parties, activists called for a ban on animal circuses.
As Mr Sali gives details of the show that will include acts by 45 artists, two young women drive past. They stop and reverse. “Animal cruelty,” they shout in a high pitched voice.
The controversy is unlikely to go away fast.
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53 Comments
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A Camilleri
Nov 8th 2012, 21:21
a lot of business have died down due to revolution of this world we live in!! groceries because there are now bigger stores, dvd shops because we can download and buy online (just silly examples i give) and in 2012, we would be able to think that one now may find other things to do than smile for a lion to jump through fire!!! humans do them on bikes so watch them, let these animals live at home!
A Caruana
Nov 8th 2012, 19:42
If this poor tiger spending its life . in a rusted cage is anything to go by, i would pity his real children! The fault lies with the Minister who gives them the permit to come year after year. The Ministery for Animal welfare should stop issuing permits for circuses with animals. But this is Malta, maybe someone somewhere has a cut from the profits or knows someone who is related to somebody ...
R. Balzan
Nov 8th 2012, 16:03
Keeping one's beloved children in cages is not the act of a person who loves them, but surely the act of a demented parent who needs his head examined.
Charles Grixti
Nov 8th 2012, 15:08
That is how one keeps one's children in a prison cage made of rusting iron. Yes, I am sure that these animals are sooo happpy. Ban circuses and give these animals the land they need to roam wild and free as God intended. This aside, Malta has to look into how it treats is animals too, from horses being overworked in the sun to those poor neglected cats in our streets looking for a kind home.
D Borg
Nov 8th 2012, 15:00
.....and so i keep them in cages.
M Cachia
Nov 8th 2012, 14:58
Tame animals still have 'wild' instincts and can easily be re-introduced into the wild following re-conditioning. What shows that the animals are unhappy in their cages is provided by the owner himself, a pacing animal is an unhappy and depressed one!
M Cachia
Nov 8th 2012, 14:56
I'll point this out again. These are not domesticated animals but tamed! Domestication involves breeding of the animal over many generations changing the temperament and even the look of the animal, where they become dependent on humans. A good example is the Russian project were over 60 years they have successfully domesticated foxes. (Part 1 of 2)
Jon Vercellono
Nov 8th 2012, 14:38
Dismissing stray cats on our streets as not worthy, dirty, and pests are worse by far - people go out of the way to abuse some of them - making it difficult to feed them. Putting unneeded buildings as well where they disrupt the natural ecosystem is equally cruel. Hold up a mirror to our own behaviour in Malta prior to judging a circus owner who loves his animals and provides them a shelter.
Peppi Azzopardi
Nov 8th 2012, 14:35
Ghal dawk li qed jiskruplaw......jekk l-annimali huma bhal uliedna ghadni qatt ma rajt lil hadd jiekol lil uliedu....
Mr Stanley Fenech
Nov 8th 2012, 14:53
But why am I not surprised that such a comment came straight from you pffff
Tania Farrugia
Nov 8th 2012, 17:04
Peppi this is surprising to hear from you since last year you were in a video with several other well-known local celebrities against animal cruelty...why has your position changed now?
mario mifsud
Nov 9th 2012, 11:43
Sur Peppi qatt ma nistenna lilek ,id difensur tad drittijiet u l verita(meta trid),torrog b banalita` bhal din.In natura halqithom hekk lill annimali u hekk ghandna nehduhom u ngawdhom.Mela la jamlu hazin skond int,ghandna neqirduhom(haga li diga rmexillna namlu diga b hafna speci).Le l annimali ghadhom jejxu liberi fl is stat naturali taghhom u jekk irrid narhom ninalaq jien go gagga biex narhom
mario mifsud
Nov 9th 2012, 12:52
Sur Peppi,d difersur tad drittijiet u l verita`(meta trid),ghadeki ma tafx kemm jinstema banali kumment bhal dan.Hija n natura li halqet lill dawn l annimali b dan il mod u hekk ghandna nehduhom u ngawduhom.Mela allura kif qed tighid int ghandna neqirduhom ghax in natura hekk halqithom(mhux forsi bizzejjed diga qridna speci differenti)Le biex nara lill dawn l annimali ahna irridu ninalqu go gagg
E Schembri
Nov 8th 2012, 14:34
Why all this fuss?
Probably the majority of people commenting have birds in tiny cages, fish in glass boxes and cats & dogs locked up in your homes.
I don't see the difference between pet owners and Mario Sali. Both keep animals locked up and artificially fed in one way or another. So stop trying to be more holy than the pope.
William Spencer
Nov 8th 2012, 15:37
Yes it is cruel to keep birds in small cages ( get a larger cage, and let them out for a fly around the home ), do not keep fish in a small bowl, get a large aquarium for the fish, and do not have a cat or dog if you intend to keep dogs locked in the house /garage, or left on the roof !!
I see a great difference between wild and domestic animals.
karen calleja
Nov 8th 2012, 14:23
Mr Mario Sali, if these animals are your children, why do you keep them confined in cages day in day out, stressed and far away from their natural habitat....can you tell us where is your love for them??.... you stole their dignity, made them suffer all their lives wishing they were never born! you think you are their father, given a chance they eat you alive! for the way you ruined their lives
A. Schembri
Nov 8th 2012, 14:18
I take it all the comments below belong to people who do or never owned a bird especially one who lives in a 8inch x 5 inch cage
Mr Andrew Grech
Nov 8th 2012, 14:27
I take it that you either didn't get the message or you have a bird in a cage and you submit this birds to cruelty by keeping it tied to the bar and rarely letting it fly, by hitting it on one leg so that it can stand on the other leg alone, by holding it upside down so that one day it may walk on its beak...all in the name of entertainment.
Gilbert Busuttil
Nov 8th 2012, 14:37
@A Schembri.
Probably these people keep their birds in huge aviaries surrounded by all the bird luxuries and do not own fish tanks as well as fish belong in the open seas. Pathetic. All pets belonged in the wild some day so if you want to be animal lovers...do not keep birds, tortoises or fish....let them live freely in the wild.
Animals born in captivity cannot survive the wild.
Jo Grima
Nov 8th 2012, 14:05
I never heard of anyone keeping their children in cages !! perhaps Mr Sali should put himself in a cage together with his children
A. Zammit
Nov 8th 2012, 14:01
If that's the case then this guy should be prsecuted for child labour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr l Azzopardi
Nov 8th 2012, 13:36
i can see you passion for these animals but still does not make it right does it?
Alfred J. McEwen
Nov 8th 2012, 13:13
Alfred J. McEwen
Yeah right... kissing the poor beast on the nose and then brandishing a whip at him to perform some pathetic trick, the government should have banned animal circuses from coming here a long time ago.
Lucienne Dimech
Nov 8th 2012, 12:56
So mr Sali would you keep your kids in a cage ? And use them to earn a living? I should nope not
guido calleja
Nov 8th 2012, 12:51
trying to convince us to go to the circus? over my dead body
Claire Busuttil
Nov 8th 2012, 12:49
Will anyone leave his/her children in CAGES????
Mr Stanley Fenech
Nov 8th 2012, 12:26
"...two young women drive past. They stop and reverse. 'Animal cruelty,' they shout in a high pitched voice."
Ironically, and as humorous as the journalist is trying to picture it, the two young women did the only decent act and condemned the whole activity. Mr. Sali is just afraid of the activists and loss of business, and not concerned about the animals and far less about the residents.
lisa parnis coleiro
Nov 8th 2012, 12:16
Ban Animal Circus from Malta once and for all!- I would never dream of taking my daughter to a circus where there are animals kept in captivity. It is so cruel :(
T Cassar
Nov 8th 2012, 12:14
Oh look how cute, the cage bars in the pic are just like my daughter's!! X'kumbinazzjoni!
dieter bulten
Nov 8th 2012, 12:14
The cage they are put in may be the taj mahal. it still remains a cage . And you remain their captor and we remain disgusted at your barbaric ways
J Bonello
Nov 8th 2012, 12:14
Sorry all this bla bla bla bla but still this animal is in captivity. I am amazed how people still find it amusing to go the circus. You pay to see animals do silly acts, something that is definately not their nature. I am so against it and so against who authorizes them to come to Malta.
C Galea
Nov 8th 2012, 12:12
Mr. Sali's argument is typical of someone making money at someone else's expense. In this case it is at d expense of freedom. The freedom of these poor creatures. He can tell us how well fed they are & how clean the cages are, they lack d most important thing, freedom. Circuses with animals should be banned. A few years back I remember a great show by a non animal circus, everyone enjoyed it!
Franco Farrugia
Nov 8th 2012, 12:10
Bull! Nothing but bull! If they were your children, you wouldn't be using them commercially and you wouldn't be keeping them in cages, and far away from their natural habitat. Who do you think you're kidding? You think that we are all islander fools?
Mario Vella
Nov 8th 2012, 11:59
A lot of futile talking as many people still attend these shows ..... if one had to boycott them the organizers will no more promote circus any more on our island but until some idiots take their children to see these tortured animals any talking is pointless ...... we have to educate the children that this is no fun
Charmaine Monseigneur
Nov 8th 2012, 11:56
Thanks to Mr Sali and people like him, my daughter can see these wild animals with her own eyes, not on TV. Am sorry not everyone can afford to go abroad often to visit zoos and go on safari! Hope circuses will remain with animals. Thank you Mr Sali, Johan Said, Silvio Zammit and others like them.
L. Spiteri
Dec 19th 2012, 22:47
I don't see your point here..
So you are happy with taking your child to a circus to a see animals that have been beaten and kept in cages all their lives just for the sake of seeing them? I think that if your daughter knew the conditions these wild animals are kept in, and the suffering they have to endure, she would choose to see them on TV, or in their natural environment!
Caroline J. Muscat
Nov 8th 2012, 11:53
I have always boycotted animal circuses as well. However, for some reason, reading this article brought a thought to my mind. I have 2 dogs at home, and whilst I do take them out twice a day, most of the day they are stuck inside. Is this the equivalent of Mr. Sali's cages? Are all our domestic pets also kept in "cages" but whilst we approve of that practice, we do not approve of circuses?
S Atkins
Nov 8th 2012, 11:51
I can't even begin to imagine the terror some of the less wild animals - such as the horses - must feel when they are caged in the same enclosed space as the tigers, in whose nature it is to see them as prey.
These animals do not have a voice. You are their voice - and you can use it by boycotting the circus.
Jon Vercellono
Nov 8th 2012, 11:44
How many of you moaners have gone to the street to adopt a cat and bring it inside, or care for a sick cat (or dog) from the street, or rescued an injured bird. Chances are less than 1% - show concern about the animals here and take a stand against animal abusers - there are FAR WORSE problems than Italian circus animals here in Malta (including dogs on the roof, lack of funds for SPCA, etc)
Dan Jensen
Nov 8th 2012, 11:36
Recently there was a 10 year old girl found who had lived inside the same room for her entire life. So because she has lived inside that very room her entire life without ever getting outside, it is okay?
It is the exact same logic at play here.
Animal circuses should be banned and it is extremely ill parenting to take your kids to go see such a display.
Shirley Ann Brincat
Nov 8th 2012, 11:28
I am sorry but NOONE and NOTHING will ever convince me that circus animals are treated well and are happy.
lisa parnis coleiro
Nov 8th 2012, 12:17
Well said!!
Paul Zammit
Nov 8th 2012, 11:20
Your family ha? Wanna see what you'd do should your daughter/sister/mother/father etc be imprisoned for no reason other than the pleasure of someone else.... If you truely consider these creatures to be your family .... then you'd have already set them free!
Jon Vercellono
Nov 8th 2012, 11:45
so you're against domesticated cats and dogs as well - but would be one of those complaining about dog dirt or cat pee on your sidewalk?
J Grima
Nov 8th 2012, 11:19
Mr. Sali why don't you try and cage you next child(HUMAN ONE) and keep him there. It's fair since it will be born there right?
On a serious note, you only care about the money it brings in and nothing else. I feel sad for all those animals, they'll never know what being 'free' means, that's for sure.
laurent caruana
Nov 8th 2012, 11:05
The animals were brought up in the wrong environment (cages). The bite on your arm proves that!
Stefan Zammit
Nov 8th 2012, 11:55
That is absolutely ridiculous; go offer your arm to a tiger and the wilderness?
R. Azzopardi
Nov 8th 2012, 11:05
They could be kept like kings and queens, I have boycotted animal circuses since I was a child and will continue to do so. I also boycott zoos. the only ones i visit are "conservation zoos" which breed animals in captivity in order to release the young into the wild.
Mario Ellul
Nov 8th 2012, 10:46
Is he expecting a 'jahasra or miskin' from the people who geniunely love animals? Would he raise his children, if he has any, closed in a cage or room from birth? Animal circuses are wrong, full stop. Lets stop this nuisance now!!
Ramon Casha
Nov 8th 2012, 09:53
If any parent treated children the way circus animals are treated they'd be hauled before a court charged with criminal abuse.
G Zammit
Nov 8th 2012, 11:07
If any parent treats a 'domesticated' animal - which, in all fairness, was a wild animal which was removed, against its will, by our ancestors - the way SOME people treat theirs, they should also be imprisoned.
One cannot generalise - obviously he is keeping them in a cage, as do ALL bird lovers in malta.
And, there are parents who treat them worse than this .... just, saying
Mario Ellul
Nov 8th 2012, 11:28
Mr Zammit,
2 wrongs don't make a right. Keeping birds in cages for the pleasure of humans tipo 'kukku ma friend' is still wrong. You cannot however compare an elephant, tiger, lions, crocodiles etc to a cat or a dog.
Kathy Elliot
Nov 8th 2012, 09:31
'Abuse' does not necessarily mean beating animals bloody. Out of their natural habitat and far from where they should be is abuse enough. And a circus cage in company of humans and domestication is the exact opposite of 'natural habitat'. The animals are well kept, but on some levels, it's still abuse. Your milage may vary.
Please choose the reason of your report below: