Great London Circus Cat Problem
Posted By thecircusblog on September 19, 2012
The cats that Alfonso was working were not all that bad but like always there is one or two trouble makers in the arena. At this time I had my eye on one of them. At times Alfonso would turn his back to this cat I told him never do so, as he is doing in this photo. The cat was a jughead and if it wasn’t for the two good tricks he did he would be better off in a zoo. Note how all the cats are looking at the Cindy at the back right of the arena. This was not good, too much of a distraction. When I saw this photo, which I had totally forgotten about, I remembered the almost fatal problem. I was watching that one cat, when he lowered his head and leaned forward, I knew he was about to come off his set. I yelled out “Pancho”, Alfonso’s nick name and at the same time got up moving toward the cat to catch his eye. A second or two went by as he now was watching me, this was good in that his thinking changed from Alfonso to me. I had some run ins with this cat before and he had some respect for me.
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thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
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In 75 I was Poncho’s “cage boy”. I seem to recall he ended up turning his back one too many times. Even after you told him not to. Didn’t he get chewed up one day? Nothing serious but enough to make him see he wasn’t cut out for the cat business. Maybe he saw the Lord that day. By 1976 or 77 he was out of the biz I think.