BOSTON (WHDH) - Members of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, animal welfare leaders, and state legislators are expected to gather outside the State House Tuesday to rally for the permanent ban of elephants and other wild animals from circuses and traveling shows.
The animal welfare activists are pushing for a ban after an elephant at the center of a legal effort to give animals “personhood” died at the age of 54 at the Big E Fair in West Springfield.
“Furious animal advocates have said: enough is enough,” an MSPCA spokesperson said. “These intelligent, emotionally complex and sensitive animals should never be forced to perform unnatural tricks under lights and crowds that scare them senseless.”
The rally begins at 10 a.m. on the State House steps and lasts until 10:30 a.m.
Following the rally, the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development is expected to review two bills that would ban elephants, big cats, primates and bears from performing in traveling exhibits and shows.
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