Massachusetts Bans Exotic Animals in Traveling Circuses

As World Elephant Week comes to a close, there’s a major victory to celebrate for elephants and other exotic animals. Massachusetts has officially become the 11th state in the nation to ban exotic animal acts in traveling circuses!

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed House Bill 4915 into law earlier this month. The legislation will prohibit the use of elephants, primates, bears, big cats, and giraffes in circuses across the commonwealth starting January 1, 2025. The bipartisan bill had widespread public support and was passed unanimously by the Massachusetts House of Representatives and by a voice vote in the Massachusetts Senate.

Although the bill passed without controversy this summer, this victory was over 20 years in the making, as animal activists have been working to pass similar legislation in the state since 2001. The strong bipartisan support for this bill and its historic passage shows just how far public opinion has shifted on the issue of using animals in circus acts in recent years.

Public awareness campaigns, shared by animal advocacy organizations like Species Unite, have been crucial in shedding light on the abusive tactics used to subdue and exploit animals in circuses. Elephants and other circus animals are forced to perform tricks for the public using torturous, fear- and pain-based training tactics that include being whipped, stabbed with bull hooks, and shocked with electric prods. These wild animals are also subjected to long periods of highly stressful confinement as they are moved from place to place to perform for different noisy crowds across the country.

As the true horrors of animal circus acts have finally come to light, public support has plummeted, and many famous circuses have phased out exotic animal acts while more and more states work toward bans. The Massachusetts ban comes just three months after Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore signed a similar bill into law, making Maryland the 10th state to outlaw exotic animal circus acts.

There has never been a better time to push for a permanent federal ban on this form of animal cruelty.

We are still working to hit our goal of 10,000 signatures to show Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva and David Schweikert, the original cosponsors of the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (TEAPSPA), that there is widespread public support for the reintroduction of this bill.

You can help us keep up the momentum for a federal ban on the use of exotic animals in traveling circuses by sharing our petition with your network!