I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to restrict the use of exotic and wild 
animals in traveling performances. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 28, 2017 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. LEE, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 
MEEKS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. CASTOR 
of Florida, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. BLU-
MENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to restrict the use of 
exotic and wild animals in traveling performances. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Traveling Exotic Ani-
mal and Public Safety Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
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(1) conditions inherent to traveling perform-
ances, including constant travel, temporary and col-
lapsible facilities, and the prolonged confinement 
and physical coercion of animals, subject exotic and 
wild animals to compromised welfare and chronic 
stress, and present public and worker health and 
safety risks not adequately addressed by current reg-
ulation; 
(2) current regulatory oversight of traveling 
performances is complex and costly, and these costs 
are not typically recouped via licensing fees, but are 
left to the American taxpayer; 
(3) the frequent mobility of traveling perform-
ances complicates oversight such that agencies and 
authorities cannot properly monitor, evaluate, or fol-
low through regarding the condition of animals or 
facilities, or their history of potential injuries, inci-
dents, illnesses, violations, or other issues, and so 
cannot properly protect animals, workers, or the 
public; 
(4) traveling exotic and wild animal perform-
ances use collapsible, temporary, mobile facilities, 
which risk escape and serious harm to animals, 
workers, and the public; 
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(5) traveling exotic and wild animal perform-
ances present safety risks by permitting or not pre-
venting public contact and by displaying animals in 
inappropriate, uncontrolled areas in dangerous prox-
imity to humans and other animals; 
(6) exotic and wild animals have intrinsic value; 
their wild instincts and needs are unpredictable and 
are not naturally suited to traveling performances, 
and they suffer as a result of being unable to fulfill 
instinctive natural behaviors; 
(7) exotic and wild animals used in traveling 
performances suffer severe and extended confine-
ment, and, deprived of natural movements and be-
haviors, are prone to chronic stress, behavioral, 
health, and psychological problems; 
(8) exotic and wild animals are forced to per-
form unnatural tricks requiring extreme physical co-
ercion, including, but not limited to the use of food 
and water restrictions, electric shock devices, bull-
hooks, metal bars, whips, shovels, and pitchforks, 
among other abuses; 
(9) it is not necessary to use exotic or wild ani-
mals in traveling performances to experience the cir-
cus or similar events; 
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(10) using exotic or wild animals as commod-
ities traded for traveling performances adds nothing 
to the understanding and conservation of such ani-
mals and the natural environment, and actually un-
dermines conservation efforts necessary to protect 
threatened and endangered species; 
(11) it is not possible to provide or ensure pub-
lic and worker safety or appropriate physical and 
mental welfare for exotic and wild animals under the 
traveling performance business model, which inher-
ently and significantly restricts animals’ natural 
movements and behaviors, and where abuse is preva-
lent and oversight problematic; 
(12) the use of exotic or wild animals in trav-
eling performances is or substantially affects inter-
state or foreign commerce, or the free flow thereof; 
it is essential to regulate such activities to assure 
animals’ humane care and treatment; and 
(13) restricting the use of exotic and wild ani-
mals in traveling performances is the most cost-ef-
fective and efficient way to safeguard animals, work-
ers, and the public. 
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SEC. 3. USE OF EXOTIC OR WILD ANIMALS IN TRAVELING 
PERFORMANCES. 
Section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 
2143) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i)(1) No person shall cause a performance of, or 
allow for the participation of, an exotic animal or wild ani-
mal in a traveling animal act. 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the use of an 
exotic animal or wild animal— 
‘‘(A) in an exhibition at a nonmobile, perma-
nent institution, facility, zoo, or aquarium accredited 
by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums or the Glob-
al Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, or a wildlife 
sanctuary; 
‘‘(B) as part of an environmental education 
program by a facility accredited by the Association 
of Zoos & Aquariums, if the animal used for such 
purposes is not so used for more than 6 months in 
any year and is not kept in a mobile or traveling 
housing facility for more than 12 hours in any day; 
‘‘(C) by a university, college, laboratory, or 
other research facility registered with the Secretary 
pursuant to section 6 for the purpose of conducting 
research; 
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