United States Residents: Support the Big Cat Public Safety Act

2020 12 US 344x361.jpgThis action is ONLY for residents of the United States

Right now, the United States Congress is considering the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which would outlaw private ownership of Big Cats such as lions and tigers and put an end to cruel cub-petting schemes that rip Big Cat cubs from their mothers for profit. Since it has gone unchecked, the business of abducting, selling, and breeding Big Cats as “pets” or public attractions has led to several thousand more Big Cats living in captivity in the United States alone than living in the wild worldwide.

The act will make it "unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase...or to breed or possess, any prohibited wildlife species,” which would include Big Cats and Big Cat hybrids, in the United States. Big Cats would no longer be torn from their homes as cubs and sold as pets, crammed into tiny cages in roadside zoos, or used as props in cub-petting and photo op schemes.

Please join us right now and speak out in support of this critical bill. Ask your senators to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

Recipients

  • Your Senators

Message

Please Support the Big Cat Public Safety Act

Dear [Decision Maker],

As a United States citizen, I ask that you please support S. 2561, also known as the Big Cat Public Safety Act. This act recently passed in the House of Representatives because your fellow lawmakers recognized the urgent need for regulations to combat the breeding, trade, private ownership, unsuitable captivity, and exploitation of big cats in our country.

If passed, the bill will make it "unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase...or to breed or possess, any prohibited wildlife species," which would include big cats and big cat hybrids, and prohibit the public from having direct contact with these animals.

For too long, the disreputable industry that trades in the lives of Big Cats has been allowed to operate in the shadows, uninhibited, because our existing laws are not strong enough to stop it. Big Cats have been stolen from their natural habitats, shipped to our nation, and bred to the point that an estimated 5,000 or even 10,000 tigers live in captivity in the United States alone, most of whom are not in accredited zoos or sanctuaries. Only an estimated 3,900 tigers remain in the wild worldwide.

Cubs are ripped from their mothers as newborns and sold like objects for profit. The cats are shipped to misguided people to become "pets" kept in inhumane conditions, used as photo-op props, and manhandled in cub-petting schemes--an innocent-seeming business that has detrimental effects on the cubs' wellbeing.

Though many cubs are purposefully underfed to keep them small, like all babies, they eventually grow up. An adult big cat can no longer be easily handled, so they are packed up and passed around again. The luckiest of these cats find a permanent home in one of the few reputable big cat sanctuaries. Others are crammed in dingy too-small cages as pets or attractions in rundown roadside zoos. Even more are discarded and killed, their skins, teeth, and claws sold on the illicit market.

Not only is this measure critical to protect tigers, lions, leopards, and other Big Cats from abuse and death, it will save the lives of people, too. Big Cats are wild animals and under no circumstances can they be owned as pets. Confining them in unsuitable and highly stressful conditions has led to tragic outcomes for their "owners" and for the officers who are called in to respond. This is a matter of upholding public safety, and swift action must be taken.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act is our chance to further our country's commitment to animal welfare and end the unacceptable practices that put both animals and the public at risk. I ask you to please support S. 2561 today. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]

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