I am proud to say that I have never gone to a circus in my life. My mother taught me early on about how inhumane circuses are to animals—and even the ones that aren’t violent still make their animals perform unnatural acts that they would never do on their own. My mother was especially disturbed by this—I think her love of elephants in general was a big part of it—and though initially I was saddened that I could not go, I understood that it was wrong. Kids have a pretty strong sense of right and wrong, and hitting animals with a whip is definitely wrong.

Whenever we get a chance, I will definitely take my daughter—who is six—to a circus without animal acts in it. I am very excited about this idea, since I have never been to the circus, either. But if I had my way, circuses would simply have no animal acts and rely only on the talents of people.

While it won’t outlaw animal performances in circuses, the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act (HR 3359) would do the next best thing. It would amend the Animal Welfare Act to take into consideration the physical and mental health of animals kept in traveling circuses, as well as the safety of the animals in general and that of the public viewing the shows. It would restrict the use of animals in these traveling shows, limit their traveling time to 12 hours at a time, and mandate that animals used in circuses be provided breaks from being enclosed to where they are not confined to a cage for more than 12 hours at a time. For circuses like Ringling Brothers, where elephants are confined for an average of 26 hours at a time, this is a huge deal. It’s still not good enough for me—would you like to be in a cage for 12 hours, especially if you were that big?—but it’s a definite positive step. Zoos and other permanent locations, however, would not be affected by the bill; it is specifically for traveling animal acts.

If you think this is a good idea, please click here to see how you can contact your representatives and ask them to support this important piece of legislation. It would not cost taxpayers money and would only result in the better wellbeing of circus animals. Several sample letters are also included if you need ideas on how to write your own.