I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6342 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to restrict the use of exotic and wild 
animals in traveling performances. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 17, 2016 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself and Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 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— 
(1) conditions inherent to traveling perform-
ances, including constant travel, temporary and col-
lapsible facilities, and the prolonged confinement 
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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; 
(5) traveling exotic and wild animal perform-
ances present safety risks by permitting or not pre-
venting public contact and by displaying animals in 
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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, 
bullhooks, 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; 
(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-
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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. 
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. 
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‘‘(A) CAUSE
A
PERFORMANCE.—The term 
‘cause a performance’ means to be responsible for a 
performance, to financially benefit as an owner or 
operator from a performance, or to sponsor a per-
formance. 
‘‘(B) DOMESTIC ANIMAL.—The term ‘domestic 
animal’ means any animal that is normally main-
tained as a companion or pet animal in or near the 
household of the owner or person who cares for the 
animal, such as a domestic dog (including a service 
dog), domestic cat, ferret, gerbil, horse, mouse, rat, 
guinea pig, rabbit, or hamster, but does not include 
any exotic animal or wild animal. 
‘‘(C) 
ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION
PRO-
GRAM.—The term ‘environmental education pro-
gram’ means an animal exhibition that is profes-
sionally designed to impart knowledge or information 
for educational or conservation purposes about that 
animal’s natural behavior, habitat, life cycle, or simi-
lar pedagogical information, conducted by an indi-
vidual qualified to impart such information, which 
does not include any performance of behavior that 
does not naturally occur for that animal in the wild 
state. 
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‘‘(D) EXOTIC ANIMAL.—The term ‘exotic ani-
mal’ means any animal that is not a domestic ani-
mal or farm animal, that is native to a foreign coun-
try or of foreign origin or character, is not native to 
the United States, or was introduced from abroad, 
whether wild-born or captive-bred, and any hybrid of 
such an animal, including hybrid crosses with a do-
mestic animal or farm animal, including but not lim-
ited to animals such as— 
‘‘(i) cetartiodactyla (excepting alpacas, 
bison, cattle, deer, elk, goats, llamas, reindeer, 
swine, and sheep); 
‘‘(ii) felidae (excepting domestic cats); 
‘‘(iii) marsupialia; 
‘‘(iv) nonhuman primates; 
‘‘(v) perissodactyla (excepting horses, don-
keys, and mules); 
‘‘(vi) pinnipedia; 
‘‘(vii) proboscidea; 
‘‘(viii) ratites (excepting ostriches, emus, 
and rheas); and 
‘‘(ix) ursidae. 
‘‘(E) FARM ANIMAL.—The term ‘farm animal’ 
means any domestic species of alpacas, cattle, sheep, 
swine, goats, llamas, poultry, or horses, which are 
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normally and have historically, been kept and raised 
on farms in the United States, and used or intended 
for use as food or fiber, or for improving animal nu-
trition, breeding, management, or production effi-
ciency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber. 
This term also includes animals such as rabbits, 
mink, and chinchilla, when they are used solely for 
purposes of meat or fur, and animals such as horses 
and llamas when used solely as work and pack ani-
mals. The term does not include exotic animals or 
wild animals. 
‘‘(F) MOBILE OR TRAVELING HOUSING FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘mobile or traveling housing facility’ 
means a transporting vehicle such as a truck, car, 
trailer, airplane, ship, or railway car, used to trans-
port or house animals while traveling to, from, or 
between locations for performance purposes. 
‘‘(G) PERFORMANCE.—The term ‘performance’ 
means any animal act, circus, ride, carnival, parade, 
race, performance, or similar undertaking in which 
animals are required to perform tricks, give rides, or 
participate as accompaniments for the entertain-
ment, amusement, or benefit of an audience. 
‘‘(H) TRAVELING
ANIMAL
ACT.—The term 
‘traveling animal act’ means any performance of ani-
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mals where such animals are transported to, from, 
or between locations for the purpose of such per-
formance, in a mobile or traveling housing facility. 
‘‘(I) WILD
ANIMAL.—The term ‘wild animal’ 
means any animal that is not a domestic animal or 
farm animal, which is now or has historically been 
found in the wild or in the wild state, within the 
boundaries of the United States, its territories, or 
possessions, whether wild-born or captive-bred, and 
any hybrid of such an animal, including hybrid 
crosses with a domestic animal or farm animal, in-
cluding but not limited to animals such as— 
‘‘(i) cetartiodactyla (excepting alpacas, 
bison, cattle, deer, elk, goats, llamas, reindeer, 
swine, and sheep); 
‘‘(ii) felidae (excepting domestic cats); 
‘‘(iii) marsupialia; 
‘‘(iv) perissodactyla (excepting horses, don-
keys, and mules); 
‘‘(v) pinnipedia; 
‘‘(vi) ratites (excepting ostriches, emus, 
and rheas); and 
‘‘(vii) ursidae. 
‘‘(J) WILDLIFE SANCTUARY.—The term ‘wild-
life sanctuary’ means an organization described in 
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sections 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) and 501(c)(3) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code 1986 that does not— 
‘‘(i) engage in commercial trade in any ex-
otic or wild animal, including the sale of any 
animal, animal part or derivative, offspring, 
photographic opportunities, or public events for 
financial profit or any other entertainment pur-
pose; 
‘‘(ii) breed any exotic or wild animal; 
‘‘(iii) permit unescorted public visitation; 
‘‘(iv) permit direct contact between the 
public and any exotic or wild animal; or 
‘‘(v) remove any exotic or wild animal from 
a sanctuary or enclosure for exhibition or per-
formance. 
‘‘(5) A person who fails to comply with this sub-
section shall be subject to the enforcement and penalties 
provided for under sections 16, 19, and 29.’’. 
SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAW. 
(a) This Act shall not be interpreted to— 
(1) authorize the interstate transport of a 
threatened or endangered species, which is prohib-
ited under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 
1538); or 
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