Los Angeles to ban wild animals in circuses
Hurrah! This makes me smile inside. It is about time. The days of circus animals are fading away. On 25th April 2017, the LA city council voted unanimously to ban the exhibition of wild or exotic animals for entertainment (note that this is wider than for circuses) including circuses. The ban covers: wild animal shows, displays in public areas (sidewalks and parks), house parties and events.
The Bill was sponsored by Councilman David Ryu and National Council member Cheri Shankar. They were assisted by the Performing Animal Welfare Society.
Below are thumbnail images. If you click on them you are taken to a larger version.
LA has followed other cities and jurisdictions in this commendable action: counties in Idaho, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and North Carolina and the city of San Francisco.
The public have shown a clear distaste for circuses using animals – a poll indicated that 69% are against. Circus attendances have dropped 30-50% over 20 years according to Forbes magazine.
It’s about time. It is an exploitation of animals. And it is cruel. The caging of the animals, training them, transporting them etc.. It is so unnatural and stressful. And there have been reports of animal abuse during training. There is also the danger posed to the trainers and human performers.
There is no doubt that there is a gradual change in attitude by the public to exploitation of animals for commercial gain and that includes using animals in the making of films, roadside exotic cat photo shoots and on television.
For me there is a new form of animal exploitation: celebrity internet cats. This is about exploiting the unusual appearance of cats due to various reasons including medical conditions. There are no bounds to how humans make money out of animals.
Los Angeles has banned declawing too.
Source: HSUS Wayne Pacelle’s Blog – my thoughts.
About damn time!!
Amen.
I’m thrilled that this is gaining momentum along with other causes such as declawing. My disdain for circuses and zoos is well known.
This decision doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be places where wild animals can be seen. These circus animals will have to be placed somewhere, hopefully at upstanding wide open sanctuaries where they will feel free and safe. They can’t be released into the wild.
its sad. i remember going to Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey Circus as a kid & i loved watching the animals perform. i had no clue what they did to them to get them to perform, or how they lived away from the circus. im glad that they r no longer harmed & all, but i do wish there was a happy medium where people could see the amazing things they can do without them having to suffer or being exploited. maybe im naive the think that there is, oor could b, some way to do that. i guess i think since there r so many animals that r endangered, etc & need to b protected that there would b a way to do that safely where everyone benefits. where kids can see these magnificent animals up close(relatively), see how they live, etc, while still allowing them as much of a degree of autonomy as possible. maybe that will never happen as long as there r people, but it still hope so cuz i LOVE tigers & got to see them n the circus & n zoos. they were endangered when i was a child back n the 70s & they r worse of now if im not mistaken. i hope my grand-kids will b able to see them for real & not just some virtual experience. ah well, c’est la vie! heres to dreaming!!