OPPOSE THE MASSACHUSETTS ANTI-CIRCUS BILL!

 

To Massachusetts-area Circus Fans and supporters:

 

A hearing on Massachusetts Senate Bill 1706 may occur later this month. This bill seeks to ban the use of certain elephant training tools, including the elephant guide (or ankus) and tethers. If this bill is passed into law, it would prevent Ringling Bros. and other circuses from visiting Massachusetts by preventing the use of widely accepted elephant management tools.

 

SB 1706 was introduced by Senator Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) and is now in the Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Committee. The language of the bill is similar to Senator Hedlund’s efforts in past years. The opposition efforts of Circus Fans and other industry supporters have been very valuable in defeating this legislation in the past, and we are asking for your help again this year

 

Letters, e-mails, and phone calls in opposition to SB 1706 are very much needed. The contact information for each Committee member is listed below. Communications from circus supporters who live in a Committee member’s legislative district are especially helpful. In addition, if anyone is interested in speaking at the upcoming Committee hearing, please contact Mary Lou Kelly at mkelly@feldinc.com to get further details.

 

True animal experts know that a safe and secure environment is the only acceptable and successful method of training any animal, including elephants. Senate Bill 1706 is only directed at circuses because its supporters want to ban the circus, not protect animals. The elephant guide, sometimes called a bull hook or ankus, have been used by elephant handlers for thousands of years. Elephant handlers in zoos, nature preserves and circuses throughout the world use the guide as an extension of the trainer’s arm along with a voice command.

 

Further, the guide is a proven and humane husbandry tool accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which regulates all zoos and circuses, and is approved by the International Elephant Foundation, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Elephant Managers Association.

 

The care and handling of all animals in circuses is already subject to strict federal, state and local animal welfare and cruelty laws.  All circuses and traveling exhibitors that perform in Massachusetts, including Ringling Bros., are inspected by state authorities and receive unannounced inspections by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure compliance with the federal Animal Welfare Act.