The vote is not binding on the city authorities. Jacek Majchrowski, the city mayor, voiced doubts over such a move.
He said: “Apart from the fact that circuses will fold, there is the question of what will happen to the animals. Maybe something worse than circuses will happen to them?”
Tomasz Popiołek, an official from the Kraków City Hall, said that the ban could only apply to municipal grounds and not private-owned land.
“The effect will be that circuses will move … to private grounds,” he added.
According to PAP, 35 councillors voted in favour of the resolution on Thursday, with only one against. The council said that 33 Polish cities had already banned animal circuses.
“It is high time that Kraków joined the cities which have banned this form of entertainment,” councillor Małgorzata Jantos said.
She added that the European Federation of Veterinarian Doctors, an umbrella body for veterinary associations, had spoken out against performances with live animals in circuses.
According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an American animal rights organization, 27 countries across the world have banned animal circuses.
(jh)
Source: PAP