Currently , across the U.S. , an estimated 20,000 big cats are privately kept as pets or as wayside menagerie attractions , with many live in sordidness cages and malnourished misery . They are beaten to succumb to public presentation . And some are even slaughter or sold for portion once outlive their utility program as sonny cuddling acts . But , big cats in the U.S. are now on track to get the long - awaited protection they merit .
Yesterday evening , big cats in the U.S. gained a monumental footstep on the route to securing more comprehensive protection across the land . After well over a 10 of iteration , the Big Cat Public Safety Act ( H.R. 1380 ) passed through the House of Representatives by a vote of 272 - 114 .
https://gizmodo.com/america-s-hidden-big-cat-problem-1845091479
One of the 39 tigers rescued in 2017 from Joe Exotic’s G.W. Exotic Animal Park yawns at the Wild Animal Sanctuary on 15 December 2024 in Keenesburg, Colorado. Exotic, star of the wildly successful Netflix docu-series Tiger King, is currently in prison for a murder-for-hire plot and surrendered some of his animals to the Wild Animal Sanctuary.Photo: Marc Piscotty (Getty Images)
Co - buy at by Rep. Mike Quigley and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick , the bill aims to limit and ban private will power of tiger , lions , leopards , jaguars , cougars , chetah , and any hybrid of these specie . It will also purely forbid any public fundamental interaction with big cat , including greenhorn petting and selfie picture ops .
Currently , the national number of big cats in private self-command is strange and undocumented at the federal level . The eventual passing of the legislation will dress the course for federal officers to palm the orbit of private possession and permit law enforcement to contend related to risk of these apex predators in individual hands . soon , creature eudaemonia organizations moderately estimated that there are10,000 to 20,000 privately - kept heavy catsin the U.S. , and that7,000 of those are tigersalone .
“ By requiring facilities to obtain a federal permit for liberal cat possession , this bill serve provide a full picture of where wrapped tigers are in this country , in summation to who have them , when they ’re sold or swop and what happens to their valuable parts when they die , ” said Leigh Henry , Director of Wildlife Policy at World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) . “ Currently , the deficiency of uniformness and entropy that be increases the likelihood that captive tigers can easily err off the radar and filter into illegal wildlife trade . ”
As of today , obtaining a bountiful cat in many states is sometimes even easier than adopting a shelter cat . The Big Cat Public Safety Act ( BCPSA ) will enact strict regulations in being capable to attain a big Arabian tea in the first office .
The cruelty bragging guy prevail in individual self-will and at wayside zoo is startling . Co - supporter of the bill , Rep. Mike Quigley tell , “ animate being like tigers , lions , leopards , and puma should not be exposed to miserable condition so many of them in our country currently face . ”
The currently ungoverned cub necking exercise is leading to a mass genteelness of tiger , animal welfare violations , and unregulated trade and debacle of outgrown cubs . Banning cub petting is one of the Big Cat Public Safety Act ’s authentication , and this lawmaking will at long last pass to a dramatic downturn in bringing up and big hombre exploitation .
https://gizmodo.com/the-other-creepy-guy-on-netflixs-tiger-king-indicted-on-1845328567
The dangers of humans being in close proximity or cohabitating with a 600 - Irish pound Panthera tigris is undisputable .
“ Big cats are angry fauna that just do not belong to in private homes , backyard , or shoddy roadside zoos , ” stated Rep. Mike Quigley . “ Too often , law enforcement and first respondent are the ones who terminate up in peril from these animals and , in a prison term when our first responders are already look increase risk from the pandemic , we owe it to them to define the additional dangers they face on the business . ”
Over 30 eld , the Humane Society of the United States document over400 dangerous incidentsthat involved captive big cats in 46 land and the District of Columbia , with more not being reported and pass by the sidereal day . Public safety officer are often the first on the scene and are open to very real endangerment . For that reason , the Fraternal Order of Police , the National Sheriff ’s Association , and legion other DoS and local practice of law enforcement agency are proponents of the Big Cat Public Safety Act .
“ By passing the Big Cat Public Safety Act we are one step nigher to ensuring these animal are treat humanely and to keep on the public safe from dangerous big cat , ” stated Rep. Mike Quigley after yesterday ’s success . “ It is my Bob Hope that the Senate will quickly bring this bill to the floor so we can get it bless into legal philosophy before the yr stop . ”
The passing of this greenback through the House is the first liberal step in protecting big cats from cruelty and unchecked breeding in the U.S.
“ By turn over the Big Cat Public Safety Act , Congress can send a message to the world that the U.S. will continue to stand strong against wildlife offense , ” said Leigh Henry of WWF . “ Our promise is that stricter regulation of captive tigers in the U.S. will be just the beginning of a global tendency – and a more inviolable future for tigers in the wild . ”
In the side of the covid-19 pandemic and the now - recognized human function in the spread of zoonotic disease , the passage of the bill is the first of many steps postulate to check our worldwide exploitation of wildlife and to protect the jeopardize tigers , social lion , and other species in their dotty landscapes .
Rina Herzlis a freelance journalist continue adjure environmental and wildlife conservation number . She has authored articles for Earther , Earth Island Journal , Mongabay , and EcoWatch .
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