The Landmark Legislation, made the state of Washington the 12th U.S state to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. This was first approved on April 9th, 2025 and will take effect 90 days from that date.

Washington has now banned the use of wild animals in their circuses. The banned animals include elephants, wild cats, bears, and more. 11 other states have already taken the same action, due to animal abuse. An article from World Animal News says, “This landmark legislation positions Washington as the 12th U.S. state to adopt such a compassionate and forward-thinking policy, reflecting a growing awareness of the need to protect wild animals from exploitation and abuse” (Worldanimalnews.com).

The three states, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington, have all accepted the ban in the past year alone. In addition, many other smaller cities and areas also have restricted wildlife acts. An article by Kitty Block for Humane World for Animals states, “Nearly 200 localities have restricted wildlife acts, too, and we’re working to grow that number” (Block, April 22, 2025).

Now the big question that remains is what the circuses will do. Some of them may still perform in Washington, just finding more humane acts to entertain the crowd. Others have talked about whether or not they will perform in the state at all. Many circuses will still be performing in the area, but not all of them are making that choice. The same article from Kitty Block says, “ Under the new law, businesses of this kind face a choice: Continue to entertain crowds with a modern, humane model, as Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus and UniverSoul have successfully done, or skip Washington altogether” (Block, April 22, 2025).

This means there will be no more elephants or bears in the state’s circus anymore. Only time will tell if more states will ban the use of wild animals in circuses in the future.