April 21, 2020
Last month, County Executive of Westchester County, George Latimer, signed an executive order banning the use of exotic and wild animals for entertainment at all county properties. This decision came a day after a traveling circus visited the town, featuring acts with many different wild and exotic animals.
While seeing lions, tigers, and camels perform stunts for a crowd seems exciting at first, when one looks a little harder into the conditions in which many circus animals live on a daily basis, the glamorous show that these circuses portray hardly matches reality. Many circus animals live in constant confinement, traveling in cramped cages many hours a day. Animals are beaten with hooks and whips to be trained to perform unnatural movements on command, such as jumping through hoops or walking on their hind legs. These creatures are also often deprived of proper veterinary care, as reported by the USDA.
Take Action: Please take a moment to send an email or letter to County Executive George Latimer to thank him for standing up for animals trapped in the entertainment industry! You can also help by doing the following:
- Never attend a circus or patronize a roadside show.
- Educate your friends, family, and coworkers about the cruel nature inherent in forcing animals to perform in circuses and sideshows.