Help Ban Traveling Exotic Animal Acts in Massachusetts
- by: MSPCA
- recipient: Massachusetts Lawmakers
Beulah was born in the wild in 1967, captured as a baby, and sold to the Commerford Zoo when she was six years old. She spent most of her 54 years in captivity and in chains. Commerford has been cited by the USDA over 50 times for failing to adhere to the Animal Welfare Act. Despite these citations, better care and treatment was not provided, and in September of 2019 Beulah died of septicemia from pyometra, a painful uterine infection. Records would later reveal that her owners knew she had been suffering from this infection for ten years.
Legislation currently under consideration ensures that Massachusetts no longer plays a role in the cruel exotic animal traveling acts industry and also demonstrates that the Commonwealth is serious about protecting public health from zoonotic diseases.
Exotic animals used in circuses and shows travel up to 50 weeks a year in small, unsanitary trailers and cages, often with delayed and inadequate veterinary care. They are deprived of exercise, proper social groupings, and opportunities to express natural behaviors.
While circuses are regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), agency monitors training sessions, where handlers use electric shock prods, bullhooks and whips. Further, with only 107 inspectors for over 13,874 licensees, it is impossible for USDA agents to adequately enforce even the AWA's minimal regulations.
Additionally, wild animals can be aggressive and unpredictable; there have been hundreds of handler and spectator injuries. In Massachusetts, a monkey at the Brockton Fair bit a teenager and Great Cats World Park, a frequent exhibitor at King Richard's Faire in Carver, was recently fined for unsafe handling and attacks on children. Traveling acts also put the public at risk of contracting zoonotic diseases, including tuberculosis and rabies.
Recent polling found that 67% of Massachusetts voters would favor a ban on exotic animal acts and, to date, 15 Massachusetts municipalities have passed local laws to that effect. Several Massachusetts businesses have successfully adapted their attractions to be animal-free, including the Aleppo Shriners Circus in Wilmington and the Topsfield Fair.
Take action now to help pass this legislation!
Legislation currently under consideration ensures that Massachusetts no longer plays a role in the cruel exotic animal traveling acts industry and also demonstrates that the Commonwealth is serious about protecting public health from zoonotic diseases.
Exotic animals used in circuses and shows travel up to 50 weeks a year in small, unsanitary trailers and cages, often with delayed and inadequate veterinary care. They are deprived of exercise, proper social groupings, and opportunities to express natural behaviors.
While circuses are regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), agency monitors training sessions, where handlers use electric shock prods, bullhooks and whips. Further, with only 107 inspectors for over 13,874 licensees, it is impossible for USDA agents to adequately enforce even the AWA's minimal regulations.
Additionally, wild animals can be aggressive and unpredictable; there have been hundreds of handler and spectator injuries. In Massachusetts, a monkey at the Brockton Fair bit a teenager and Great Cats World Park, a frequent exhibitor at King Richard's Faire in Carver, was recently fined for unsafe handling and attacks on children. Traveling acts also put the public at risk of contracting zoonotic diseases, including tuberculosis and rabies.
Recent polling found that 67% of Massachusetts voters would favor a ban on exotic animal acts and, to date, 15 Massachusetts municipalities have passed local laws to that effect. Several Massachusetts businesses have successfully adapted their attractions to be animal-free, including the Aleppo Shriners Circus in Wilmington and the Topsfield Fair.
Take action now to help pass this legislation!
Dear Legislator,
Please support H. 3245, legislation that prohibits the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling shows in Massachusetts. Traveling exotic animal acts subject highly intelligent and social animals to abusive training and near-constant travel, depriving them of exercise and opportunities to express their most basic natural behaviors. Using dangerous exotic animals for human entertainment is not only cruel, but also places the public at risk of both serious physical injury and zoonotic disease transmission. This bill is now being considered in House Ways and Means, after receiving a favorable report from the Tourism Committee.
Traveling exotic animal shows inflict intense and prolonged suffering on the animals. Chained and confined in small spaces and handled with pain-inflicting devices, such as electric prods and bullhooks, they are deprived of exercise and the ability to express even the most basic, natural behaviors.
The use of wild animals in traveling acts also poses significant public health and safety risks. Spectator injuries caused by these wild animals have been documented by the hundreds across the country, including in Massachusetts, such as a teenager bitten by a monkey at the Brockton Fair. Great Cats World Park, a frequent exhibitor at King Richard's Faire in Carver, has been fined for big cats attacking children. Traveling acts also put the public at risk of contracting zoonotic diseases, including rabies and tuberculosis, documented in elephants used for giving rides to the public.
While circuses are regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the statute's minimal standards allow facilities to comply with law while still abusing animals. And with only 107 inspectors for over 13,874 licensees, it is impossible for regulators to adequately monitor traveling animal acts. Additionally, training sessions, where much of the abuse occurs, are not monitored at all.
To date, eight U.S. states (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) and more than 155 localities in 37 U.S. states—including 15 in Massachusetts: Amherst, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Mendon, Northampton, Quincy, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Provincetown, Revere, Somerville, Topsfield, Weymouth, and Wilmington—have passed legislation addressing the abuse of wild or exotic animals in circuses.
H. 3245 ensures that Massachusetts will no longer play a role in supporting the cruel and inhumane traveling exotic animal acts industry, and also demonstrates that the Commonwealth is serious about protecting the public health from zoonotic diseases.
Please support H. 3245, legislation that prohibits the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling shows in Massachusetts.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Name]
Ký thỉnh nguyện thưKý thỉnh nguyện thưPlease support H. 3245, legislation that prohibits the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling shows in Massachusetts. Traveling exotic animal acts subject highly intelligent and social animals to abusive training and near-constant travel, depriving them of exercise and opportunities to express their most basic natural behaviors. Using dangerous exotic animals for human entertainment is not only cruel, but also places the public at risk of both serious physical injury and zoonotic disease transmission. This bill is now being considered in House Ways and Means, after receiving a favorable report from the Tourism Committee.
Traveling exotic animal shows inflict intense and prolonged suffering on the animals. Chained and confined in small spaces and handled with pain-inflicting devices, such as electric prods and bullhooks, they are deprived of exercise and the ability to express even the most basic, natural behaviors.
The use of wild animals in traveling acts also poses significant public health and safety risks. Spectator injuries caused by these wild animals have been documented by the hundreds across the country, including in Massachusetts, such as a teenager bitten by a monkey at the Brockton Fair. Great Cats World Park, a frequent exhibitor at King Richard's Faire in Carver, has been fined for big cats attacking children. Traveling acts also put the public at risk of contracting zoonotic diseases, including rabies and tuberculosis, documented in elephants used for giving rides to the public.
While circuses are regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the statute's minimal standards allow facilities to comply with law while still abusing animals. And with only 107 inspectors for over 13,874 licensees, it is impossible for regulators to adequately monitor traveling animal acts. Additionally, training sessions, where much of the abuse occurs, are not monitored at all.
To date, eight U.S. states (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) and more than 155 localities in 37 U.S. states—including 15 in Massachusetts: Amherst, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Mendon, Northampton, Quincy, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Provincetown, Revere, Somerville, Topsfield, Weymouth, and Wilmington—have passed legislation addressing the abuse of wild or exotic animals in circuses.
H. 3245 ensures that Massachusetts will no longer play a role in supporting the cruel and inhumane traveling exotic animal acts industry, and also demonstrates that the Commonwealth is serious about protecting the public health from zoonotic diseases.
Please support H. 3245, legislation that prohibits the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling shows in Massachusetts.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Name]
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