On Tuesday, over 1,000 circus performers marched throughout Mexico City's downtown area to protest the banning of circus animals.

On Monday, the city legislature passed a law without opposition banning all animals from circuses, according to Associated Press. Water shows featuring dolphins and bullfighting are still allowed, but Mexican charreadas rodeos are not, AP reported. Failure to comply can result in fines from $45,000 to $60,000. Circuses have one year to comply.

According to those who work in the circus industry, however, this move will cost both humans and animals their jobs. As a result, protestors, which included clowns, trampoline-savvy acrobats and risqué females, held signs reading "Circuses love their animals" and "Mexico wants circuses with Animals!" To further emphasize their point, the protestors also carried plastic animals on flatbed trucks.

"Hundreds of families are going to be out of work," Julio Cesar Ramirez, a 33-year-old clown and fourth generation circus performer, told AP. "This is a tradition that goes back 250 years."

"The first thing people ask is 'do you have animals?' And if you don't have animals, they won't come," Aurora Vazquez, a member of a popular Mexican circus group, added.

The law affects 50,000 circus workers and 3,000-3,500 animals, which are mostly elephants, camels, hippos and tigers, Armando Cedeno, president of the national circus association, said.

"It is impossible to take these animals back to their natural habitat because they would die," he said.

According to Cedeno, animal trainers are no longer abusive whip-wielders. Instead, he argues that the animals are monitored by the environment department and grow up in the circus so that performing feels like play.

"If someday the government expropriates our animals, they're not going to have the money to keep them, and if they have the money, it would be better spent on feeding street children," Cedeno said.

On the other hand, some say that incessant training and shows and keeping animals in small cars are detrimental to the beasts. Supporters of the ban also point to the Cirque du Soleil in Canada, which puts on popular animal-free shows.

Mexico City is just the latest Mexican city to ban circus animals; various states and towns have already banned animals in circuses.

"If they really enact a nationwide ban in Mexico, the circuses will die," Cedano said.

"If their goal is animal welfare improvements, regulate them," Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey owner, told AP Monday. "Otherwise you're just driving these circuses to look for venues outside the federal district."
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