Animal rights activists today demanded an end to travelling circuses touring across the island of Ireland.
Kicking off the cross-Border campaign against alleged cruelty, director of Animal Defenders International (ADI) Tim Phillips said the culture of violence had to stop.
"Travelling from place to place, week after week, and setting up on what land is available, animal circuses can never adequately meet the needs of the animals in their care.
"And then there is the culture of violence that we have so often caught on video. We are asking to stop the beatings, confinement and deprivation."
He claimed around 150 animals are touring around Ireland with travelling circuses.
The campaign run jointly by Animal Defenders International and the Animal Rights Action Network will begin in Belfast today before heading to Dublin, Limerick and Clare, urging locals to help bring about the end of animal circuses.
A giant ADI billboard van will be touring Ireland highlighting the suffering of circus animals.
PA