The Moulin Rouge in Paris must stop their animal-unfriendly snake act immediately. Snakes are thrown into a tank of water while female dancers swim around the animals. The act has long been protested by animal rights activists, and rightly so.

Two types of snakes were used in the act, the Southeast Asian python and the Indian python. Both snakes live exclusively on land, and are protected species. During the act, they were submerged in a large tub of water, while the dancer wriggled between the animals, and grabbed them. In recent years, there have been fewer and fewer visitors who could appreciate the act.

According to activists who saw the act themselves, it was clear that the snakes were desperately trying to get their heads above the water. To prevent the dancer from being bitten, the mouths of the snakes were taped. The cloaca of the snakes was also taped, so that they could not defecate in the bath.

The theater had already decided to stop performing acts that use live animals. However, that would not be until 2024. This has now accelerated due to increasing pressure from activists and heated demonstrations outside of the building, and the complaints heard at the Paris town hall. Excellent. It baffles me what people do to animals, all for a couple of euros.

Source: on the back of BNNVARA, Joop, as discussed with Francisco van Jole.