Elephants, Big Cats, Primates, Giraffes, and Bears in Traveling Shows

H. 4915: An Act relative to the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling exhibits and shows 

MSPCA Position: Support
Sponsors: Senators Bruce Tarr and Adam Gomez; Representatives Carole Fiola and Bradley Jones
Status: H. 4915 passed the House on July 25, 2024 (session video) (formerly was H. 3245); passed the Senate on July 31, 2024. Signed by Governor Healey on August 8, 2024.

Update: Signed by Governor Healey on August 8! There are many people to thank:

• Governor Healey for signing! Read the Governor’s press release.
• Thank you to the advocates across the state who worked so hard to make this happen — your calls, emails, and meetings all mattered!
• Thank you to bill sponsors Senator Bruce Tarr, Senator Adam Gomez, Representative Carole Fiola, Representative Brad Jones, as well as former Representative Lori Ehrlich and former Senator Bob Hedlund for your tireless work advocating for these animals.
• Thank you to Senate President Karen E. Spilka and Speaker Ron Mariano for making this bill a priority this session.
• Thank you to the Chairs of the Ways and Means Committees: Senator Michael Rodrigues and Representative Aaron Michlewitz.
• Thank you to our coalition partners who we have worked arm and arm with over the years — Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Humane Society of the United States, FOUR PAWS, Animal Rescue League of Boston, Zoo New England, Berkshire Voters for Animals, Western Mass. Animal Advocates, and many others.

This legislation prohibits the use of elephants, big cats, primates, bears, and giraffes in traveling shows in Massachusetts. The use of these animals in circuses, for rides, at fairs, and in other traveling shows subjects intelligent and social animals to abusive treatment and a life on the road, deprived of exercise and the ability to express even the most basic, natural behaviors. When chained and confined in small spaces and handled with pain-inflicting devices, such as electric prods and bullhooks, these animals can become dysfunctional, unhealthy, depressed, and aggressive.

Wild animals also pose a risk to public health and safety. Hundreds of people, including scores of children, have been injured by exotic animals used in circuses and traveling shows. Additionally, elephants can carry tuberculosis (TB), a zoonotic disease that can spread through the air, which puts anyone near an infected animal at risk of contracting the disease. TB carried by elephants once used in the circus was linked by the CDC to an outbreak affecting 13 people in Tennessee, only one of whom had had direct contact with infected animals. Similarly, according to the CDC, in 2013, eight employees at the Oregon Zoo became infected after contact with an infected elephant.

While circuses are regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which is enforced by the USDA, no agency monitors training sessions where the most violent abuses occur. Further, because the AWA establishes only minimal standards and fails to incorporate modern husbandry practices, a facility can be in compliance with the federal law, yet the animals can still be subjected to grossly inhumane conditions. Due to inadequate resources, the weak standards of the AWA are also poorly enforced.

In September of 2019, an elephant named Beulah, who was being exhibited at The Big E Fair in West Springfield, collapsed and then died not long after. Roughly five months after her death, in February of 2020, the USDA reported that the cause of death was septicemia from a painful uterine infection called pyometra. Beulah was born in the wild in 1967, captured as a baby, and sold to the Commerford Zoo when she was 6 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.

More than 40 countries (including, Colombia, the entire EU, Iran, Singapore, and Taiwan), ten U.S. states (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia), and more than 200 localities in 37 U.S. states have passed legislation addressing the abuse of wild or exotic animals in circuses. This includes 15 municipalities in Massachusetts: Amherst, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Mendon, Northampton, Quincy, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Provincetown, Revere, Somerville, Topsfield, Weymouth, and Wilmington. Read our Advocate Spotlight on Jenne Sindoni’s experience passing the Wilmington ban.

This legislation ensures that Massachusetts will no longer play a role in subjecting captive elephants, big cats, primates, bears, and giraffes to inhumane traveling show conditions, and also demonstrates that the Commonwealth is serious about protecting public health from zoonotic diseases.

In the Headlines

• Massachusetts House votes to ban using big cats, elephants in circuses, Boston Globe via MSN. July 25, 2024.
• Video: Elephant escapes circus, roams streets of Montana, Washington Post. April 17, 2024.
• Details released on death of Big E elephant. 22News WWLP. February 24, 2020.
• ‘Not in vain’: After death of Beulah the elephant, activists say Massachusetts needs to ban wild-animal acts from traveling shows. MassLive. October 22, 2019.
• Activists push for ban on circus animal shows. The Salem News. October 22, 2019.
• Animal advocates rally to support legislation to ban exotic animals from traveling shows. The Boston Globe. October 22, 2019.
• Activists urge Massachusetts lawmakers to take exotic animals out of traveling shows. 22News WWLP. October 22, 2019.
• Activists to rally outside Mass. State House for ban of wild animals from traveling shows. 7News Boston. October 22, 2019.
• MSPCA calls for ban on exotic animal traveling shows following death of elephant Beulah at The Big E. MassLive. September 19, 2019.
• Elephants, camels banned from Topsfield Fair. Salem News. May 18, 2019.

More Information

• Learn more about the welfare of animals used in circuses and how you can help.
• Join the Animal Action Team to receive news and alerts on all of our efforts—and to learn how you can help.