Danbury Animal Circus Protests to Target City Council

DANBURY, CT — Activists protesting animal circuses will be demonstrating in the city on July 20 and Aug. 6. They plan on staging the second protest during a meeting of the City Council, at City Hall.

The demonstrations are being organized by Jill Alibrandi, of Redding. In April, she was the brains behind the protests over the Garden Bros. Circus performances at the Danbury Ice Arena. Shortly after that last performance, the new ownership of the Danbury Ice Arena, through a press release penned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, announced the venue would no longer host animal circuses.

Alibrandi called that a "huge win," but declined to take a victory lap. She believes there are still many places in Danbury where animal circuses would be welcome to set up shop, including the Sports Dome, some office parks and even outside the Danbury Fair Mall. Her intention in July is the same it was in April: to use the demonstrations to drum up support for a citywide ban on animal circuses in Danbury.

She says she is not picking on Danbury per se, but is rather systematically targeting the state's major cities, one at a time. Stamford and Bridgeport have already banned animal circuses. Alibrandi says that Hartford is in her sights, once Danbury knuckles under. It's these cities, she says, that contain the commercial spaces circuses need to play to be profitable. Cut off the cities, and a statewide ban — the last item on her bucket list — almost becomes redundant.

Alibrandi told Patch that Mayor Mark Boughton "is well aware of the abuse. He's well aware of the things that happened not only at the Sports Dome three years ago, but at the Ice Arena over the past two years."

Boughton was adamant that "If someone is abusing animals in the city of Danbury, that person gets arrested." He allows that Alibrandi's interpretation of what constitutes animal abuse is likely different from that of the city or state, and he is right. The activist cited elephants' exposure to loud music among her complaints.

Alibrandi says she already has 30 Danbury residents signed up for the July 20 demonstration, to be held at the Danbury Library Plaza on Main Street from 2 to 5 p.m. They won't all be protesting at once, she says, because any number over 20 would require a permit which she doesn't have (but will get if she foresees a much bigger turnout). She hopes that everyone who does become involved with the protest makes a point of calling and emailing members of the Danbury City Council.

That same City Council will be the site of the protesters' next action, as they plan on demonstrating during the council's Aug. 2 meeting at City Hall on Deer Hill Avenue from 6 to 7:30 p.m. It's all part of Alibrandi's plan to ratchet up enough interest to at least get an animal circus ban on the table.

"We want to try to get more support from Danbury residents to put some pressure on the Danbury City Council to at least give us a public hearing," Alibrandi said.