Traffic chaos as circus llamas take to the highway

A HERD of escaped llamas and goats from a circus caused the closure of one the busiest traffic intersections in the country yesterday. The six llamas and four goats belong to the Australian Circus Sydney which has been performing in Tallaght all week. They escaped on to the M50 and then the Red Cow roundabout.

Their German-born owner Alexander Scholl denied suggestions that the animals were deliberately let roam free to generate publicity for the circus.

“How can people say that? Everybody knows how dangerous that could be, people could have been killed and I would go to jail. This kind of publicity I do not need.”

He said the animals escaped when the gate of their enclosure was left open after a diesel truck went in to fill up the circus’s generator.

They have since been impounded by South Dublin County Council who have demanded €5,500 for their release from a pound in Dunboyne, Co Meath.

Mr Scholl said he does not have the money and the charge involved is exorbitant.

However, a council spokeswoman said it had been a major operation and the charge will not cover the full cost.

The escaped animals were discovered wandering on the roadside between Junctions 9 and 10 on the M50 at lunchtime yesterday. AA Roadwatch controller Nicola Hudson said the organisation had received a huge number of calls from the public in connection with the incident.

An initial attempt by gardaí and animal welfare officials at the council to round them up was unsuccessful. The animals were eventually captured an hour later but only after they caused the closure of the Red Cow roundabout underpass.

Gardaí said they are now investigating the circumstances behind the animals’ escape.

The British-based Captive Animals’ Protection Society said Circus Sydney had previously been involved in incidents involving its animals, including a wallaby which escaped three years ago in Cork.