Maryland lawmakers are moving towards banning circuses from having live wild animal performances — joining eight other states and Maryland’s largest jurisdiction in doing so.
For decades, lions, tigers and elephants were the main draw of a circus. But as times changed and reports of abuse of those animals intensified, the allure of such acts wore off. In 2017, Montgomery County banned live wild animal performances, the same year the most famous circus in the United States, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey, ended them. Three years later, the city of Gaithersburg — home to the annual Montgomery County Agricultural Fair — did the same as the fairgrounds were not covered by the countywide ban.
But other circuses and fairs still showcase animal acts, and the push to ban the practice is gaining steam. On Thursday, the Maryland House of Delegates approved a statewide ban, and the Senate could approve its own version as early as Friday. Speaking on behalf of the Maryland State Bar Association, Kimberly Fullerton testified before the House Environment and Transportation Committee February 14th that lesser-known circuses ‘rushed to the bottom of the barrel’ to replace those that no longer feature animal acts.
“Wild animal performances are a relic of the past,” said Fullerton, who also teaches animal law at the University of Maryland Law School. “(Established circuses) ended wild animal performances and instituted new standards and practices because they were named and shamed. It’s the public — your constituents — that have reformed this industry.”
Specifically the ban prohibits live performances by bears, cougars, elephants, jaguars, leopards, lions, tigers and nonhuman primates. Exhibitions of domesticated and farm animals are not affected. Eight states — Rhode Island, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, California, Colorado, and Kentucky — have instituted some sort of ban on such performances. Maryland will become the ninth state if at least one chamber in the General Assembly passes the other’s bill to send to Governor Wes Moore for his signature.
