Clatsop County voters will likely be asked next year to decide whether elephants and other exotic animals should be banned from circuses and other public displays.
The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to draft an ordinance for placement on the May 2012 primary election ballot.
The action comes as a result of a lengthy campaign by a local resident and supporters who urged the board to halt what they describe as cruel and inhumane treatment of animals in traveling circuses, some of which have appeared at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds.
The ordinance will be based on a draft version presented to the board for its review Wednesday. The ordinance, based on a similar law passed by the city of Redmond, Wash., is narrowly worded to specifically prohibit only elephants and other exotic animals as defined in state statute: felines and nonwolf canines except for domestic cats and dogs, bears except for black bears, crocodiles and nonhuman primates.
Rodeos and horse shows, 4-H and FFA exhibits and educational displays would be exempt from the ban. The ordinance would only cover the unincorporated areas of the county, not the cities.
The ordinance will be brought back to the board for a public hearing at an upcoming meeting.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Astoria resident Janice Robertson, who first approached the county to request the ban in early 2010, urged the board to forego a ballot measure and adopt the proposed ordinance itself.
Chair Dirk Rohne, who serves as the board of commissioners’ liaison to the Clatsop County Fair Board, said he personally believed that the public had the right to decide whether or not to attend circuses, but added he would support placing the issue on the ballot.
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