Dear Trumansburg Fair Board,

As members of the local and greater Trumansburg community, we would like to request that you ban traveling wild animal acts from being part of the entertainment presented at the Trumansburg Community Fair. We believe it is our community’s ethical responsibility to ensure that safety, comfort and respect extend to the animals, as well as fairgoers.

There is value in promoting interaction with farm animals from our area. Encouraging local farms to bring their own domesticated animals is both educational and consistent with our community values and interests. Traveling wild animal acts are not consistent with our community values — many wild animal exhibitors that appear at state, county, and town fairs have a history of violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Any enjoyment that is gained from these type of acts is greatly outweighed by the harm they cause.

Wild animals do not belong in cages, paraded around as entertainment under the guise of promoting conservation. No one truly benefits from this type of interaction. In addition to animal welfare concerns, exotic animal exhibits present a significant public safety risk and liability, and they also distract from the fair’s educational objectives and devalue the wholesome family entertainment provided by accepting the animal cruelty and exploitation inherent in such attractions.

For the reasons listed above, and many, many more, we ask that you please stop including traveling wild animal acts as part of our community fair. Thank you.

Content for this petition is excerpted from a letter to the editor written by Molly Wadzeck Kraus and published in the Ithaca Times. The full letter can be read here: https://www.ithaca.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/exotic-animals-in-the-traveling-zoo-at-trumansburg-fair/article_58ad7bd4-c9d1-11e9-a34b-db39ae97d6ba.html?fbclid=IwAR3aqA8Rxp7A3gOhCtjoPBBEm8XLmoPDAFpaq8AEZBiiNl3KNXCkW7Uhhc0