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Los Angeles has officially passed a bill that bans the use of exotic and wild animals for the purpose of entertainment.

The new bill covers more than just circuses and covers any events occurring within the city limits of Los Angeles.

The vote from the City of Los Angeles council was unanimous in their vote for the ban this week. The brand new ordinance will be added as Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 53.39.1.

Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu elaborated that for many years wild and exotic animals have been exploited at expensive parties for the wealthy at houses in the Hollywood Hills. Ryu has pushed for this bill since its introduction back in 2016.

“The issue of wild, exotic, and even dangerous animals being used for entertainment came to our doorstep four years ago, when a baby giraffe and elephant were being marched up the Hollywood Hills for a house party,” Councilmember Ryu said in a press release.

“It is time that the city of Los Angeles makes absolutely clear that this abuse of wild animals is shameful, and we will not stand for it.”

Last October a bill (SB 313) passed into law as the Circus Cruelty Prevention Act ushering in a ban on exotic and wild animals statewide in California. Very similar to the new Los Angeles ban the statewide bill, unfortunately, has exemptions for horses, dogs, and cats used in shows and other “entertainment”.

Across the United States and the world, many bans have already been passed. Bolivia, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Bosnia and city’s like Paris, France have all placed bans on animals in circuses including traveling acts that tend to use wild animals in their “shows”.

The Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (TEAPSPA) a federal circus bill that was introduced back into the U.S. Congress last May is seeking to ban the use of exotic and wild animals used in traveling circuses throughout the United States.

“Allowing direct contact with dangerous wild animals is inhumane for the animals and unsafe for the public. Most people don’t know that wild animals used for public interactions have been taken from their mothers shortly after birth so they can be hand-raised and controlled,” wrote Catherine Doyle, Director of Science, Research & Advocacy at PAWS, in a letter to the City Council.

The Los Angeles City Councils’ new ordinance was created and passed to work in tandem with the statewide bill that bans these exotic and wild animals from public exhibitions to keep wealthy residents from circumventing the state ban at house parties and other private events.

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