San Francisco Bans Wild Animal Performances

There will be no more elephants balancing on giant barrels or tigers jumping through flaming hoops for people’s amusement in San Francisco, where the city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance outlawing public performances involving wild and exotic animals. The legislation prevents circuses, as well as movie and television productions, from forcing wild animals to perform unnatural acts using painful training methods while exempting domesticated animals and certain activities by zoos and museums. Four other American municipalities have passed similarly broad bans, but San Francisco is by far the largest city to prohibit wild animal performances within its borders.