Just a few days after the Ringling Bros. Circus closed its doors for good, New York is looking at legislation to keep elephants from being used in entertainment.

The state Senate has passed legislation written by students from Pace University that would outlaw the use of elephants in any form of entertainment, which includes circuses, fairs, movies, and television. Cold Spring resident John Cronin, a faculty member at Pace, says the reasoning behind the legislation is that the only way to get an elephant to perform is through the use of torture.

If the bill is approved, New York would become the first state in the country to ban elephants in entertainment. And, reading about how they make elephants do what they do, it sounds like this is long overdue. There are some animals you can train to do things pretty easily, but when you starve them and chain them up like is common practice with elephants, that's a serious problem. Especially these days, when you can just use CGI or special effects to create the illusion of anything.

My question is, what about something like a traveling circus? If they have elephants, can they not bring them into the state? Does the bill only affect those circuses based in New York? I'm sure we'll hear more if the bill gets approved, but for now, those questions remain.

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