Committee hears bill to ban traveling performances by elephants, big cats, primates and bears

The House Community Safety Committee took public testimony on Engrossed Senate Bill 5065 on March 18, a bill that would prohibit certain animals from participating in traveling animal acts in Washington. The bill defines a traveling animal act as a performance in which animals are transported to, from or between locations for exhibition and identifies four categories of animals covered by the ban: elephants, nonhuman primates, felines excluding domestic cats (commonly "big cats"), and bears. Violations would constitute a gross misdemeanor under the bill as drafted.

Committee staff explained the bill in the context of existing federal and state law, including the Federal Animal Welfare Act (USDA/APHIS) and the 2007 Washington statute that already restricts possession or breeding of potentially dangerous wild animals and permits local jurisdictions to adopt more restrictive…