Circus animals banned from Westchester County Center
Action Alerts From Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW)
We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including
experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts.
Circus animals banned from Westchester County Center
From:
Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW)
March 2, 2020
THANK YOU re 'Circus animals banned from Westchester County Center'!
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on this issue over the last several
years. It has been a tough road for the animals. Progress, both for people and
animals, is a long race, not a short one - can take years, decades,
centuries. Our persistence paid off, as it very often does.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then
you win.
-
Mahatma Gandhi
Please send
THANKS to Legislator Damon Maher, who drafted the lead legislation
on this ground-breaking bill that will cover the entire county and not just
County Center
[email protected]
And please add a comment to this article:
Circus animals banned from Westchester County Center:
County Executive George Latimer announces an executive order banning the use
of exotic animals for performances at the Westchester County Center, Feb.
28, 2020 in White Plains. The Journal News
WHITE PLAINS – If the circus ever comes to town again, it’ll be without the
lion taming, tiger tricks and other exotic animal performances.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer signed an executive order Friday
that bans performing animals at the Westchester County Center and all
county-owned property.
“We have seen a greater sensitivity to how animals are being treated in
performing roles over the years,” Latimer said before signing the order in
the lobby of the center. “We have as a society evolved in our thinking on
the issue.”
The move comes two weeks after the Royal Hanneford Circus came to the center
for eight shows over three days on Valentine’s Day weekend, complete with
lions and white tigers. The county center has hosted the circus for 50
years, according to officials.
Latimer said he’d welcome Hanneford or another circus back without the
banned wild and exotic animals, which include chimpanzees, monkeys and
giraffes. Elephants have been prohibited in circuses in New York State since
last year.
The executive order only applies to county-owned properties and could be
repealed by a future executive, but Westchester lawmakers are discussing
making the ban permanent through a law and applying the prohibition to all
properties within the county.
A bill spearheaded by legislators Damon Maher and Margaret Cunzio was
proposed on Monday and referred to legislative committees for discussion. It
is likely to be amended before it goes to a public hearing and vote but has
wide support out of the gate.
The executive order doesn’t apply to events at the county center such as the
lizard and reptile expo or pet adoption events.
Ernest Lungaro, of the SPCA humane law enforcement unit, said he believed
many people would be against the use of the animals if they knew more about
how they were trained.
“That’s what the public really doesn’t see is the harsh treatment sometimes
of these animals that are performing,” he said.
The news conference was cut short when legislature Vice Chairwoman Alfreda
Williams collapsed. She was responsive as an ambulance arrived at the center
and home later in the afternoon, a spokesman said.
The activist group Animal Defenders of Westchester has lobbied for an
executive order for several years, but Latimer said his staff took the time
to discuss and consider the move.
A previousbill was proposed in the legislature but never made it past the
committee stage in 2018. One ban affecting the county center came to pass
more quickly in 2018 when Latimer first took office.
One of the executive's first acts was to sign an executive order that banned
gun shows at the center and other county-owned property after a debate over
hosting the shows under his predecessor, Republican Rob Astorino.
Latimer's executive order was followed by a county law later that same year.
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