Animals: prohibition on use in circuses.

Existing law regulates the taking and possession of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, including the importation, transportation, possession, and live release of wild animals, as defined. This bill would prohibit a person from sponsoring, conducting, or operating a circus, as defined, in this state that uses any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse. The bill would prohibit a person from exhibiting or using any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse in a circus in this state. The bill would authorize a civil penalty against a person who violates these prohibitions pursuant to an action brought by the Attorney General, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Food and Agriculture, a district attorney, a city attorney, or a city prosecutor. The bill would specify how these civil penalty moneys would be deposited depending primarily on which entity brings the civil penalty action, including requiring the deposit of the moneys collected by the Department of Food and Agriculture into the Circus Cruelty Prevention Account, which the bill would create, with those moneys available upon appropriation for the purposes of the department's enforcement of these prohibitions.