Dalton, Mass., Votes Down Circus Bylaw Prohibiting Wild Animal Performances

By Kari Njiiri

May 5, 2015

New England Public Radio

http://nepr.net/news/2015/05/05/dalton-massachusetts-votes-down-circus-bylaw-prohibiting-wild-animal-performances/

An annual circus will go on as usual this summer in Dalton, Massachusetts, after voters on Monday rejected a proposed bylaw that would have prohibited acts featuring wild animals.

Some residents have criticized the use of wild animals in circus and carnival acts as cruel and outdated. Dalton resident Holly Rogers drafted the circus bylaw.

“For ten minutes of your entertainment, it’s not really worth the lifetime of confinement and captivity for the elephant,” says Rogers.

But Bob Bishop, a member of the Dalton Lions Club, which sponsors the circus as a fundraiser, says the decision to attend should be left to individuals and not the town.

“If you don’t want to support the circus, don’t make it hard for the people that do want to watch it,” says Bishop.

The days of wild animal circus acts could be numbered, though. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus recently announced it would be phasing out elephant acts by 2018 due to growing public concern about the animals.