If the blog post I share is accurate, then no. The only groups affected are unlicensed breeders and cub petting operations.
Is the Big Cat Public Safety Act good or bad?
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Did this ever pass the Senate?
I'm fairly certain it never made it to a senate vote.
Update on the Big Cat Public Safety Act: the Bill has passed out of the Natural Resources Committee on June 15th. It will next go to a House floor vote where it's expected to pass with bipartisan support. The Senate is still finalizing their version. The Legislation died in the Senate during the 116th Congress.
Quigley Big Cat Legislation Moves Forward
Quigley Big Cat Legislation Moves Forward
It's only been two years, which isn't a very long time for a bill these days. The fact it'll make it to a House floor vote is impressive but the biggest hurdle is and always has been the Senate (with two Republicans co-sponsoring however, that's promising). But we've been here before, so we'll see.
The Biden Administration has endorsed the Big Cat Public Safety Act which is currently in House Committee. The Speaker has added the Bill to her docket and a floor vote is expected in the coming weeks. A similar bill in currently in the Senate Committee. Currently, there are over 200 co-sponsors of the House bill and is expected to pass easily.
Biden backs 'Tiger King's' Carole Baskin's 'Big Cat Public Safety Act,' a bipartisan effort to limit exotic animal ownership
Biden backs 'Tiger King's' Carole Baskin's 'Big Cat Public Safety Act,' a bipartisan effort to limit exotic animal ownership
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From what the article above describes, I am in agreement with this act. The "cub petting" practice is not something that I agree with, and allowing these cubs to be raised by their parents is the best situation for them.
When exotic animals are kept properly, I do not have a problem with them being kept in private ownership situations. However, I don't think that big cats should be kept as pets. There are hundreds of domestic and exotic species that make better pets than big cats...
When exotic animals are kept properly, I do not have a problem with them being kept in private ownership situations. However, I don't think that big cats should be kept as pets. There are hundreds of domestic and exotic species that make better pets than big cats...
The Big Cat Public Safety Act has a floor vote scheduled in the House for today. It is expected to pass.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act just passed the US Senate. It is now headed to President Biden's desk. If signed, it will become law.
Biden has expressed support for the bill in the past, so he is expected to sign it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate...de-famous-by-tiger-king-heads-to-bidens-desk/
Biden has expressed support for the bill in the past, so he is expected to sign it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate...de-famous-by-tiger-king-heads-to-bidens-desk/
A big win for animal welfare! After the last Senate failed to take up the legislation, I'm glad the lame duck was able to get it through after huge bipartisan support.
I'm not sure how "big" of a win this is, when in essence it has rather little actual function, as even roadside zoos are Class C license holders, so are allowed big cats as long as visitors can't pet them. Although with how bad the status of animal welfare regulation is in the US, I suppose any win could be considered a big win. If we wanted a big win for animal welfare, let's redefine "animal" under the animal welfare act such that non-mammals, rats, mice, horses, and farm animals are covered, and ensure the vets doing inspections are actually knowledgeable in the specific taxa they are inspecting.
I'm wondering, however, if any AZA Zoos will be affected by the stipulation that all barriers for big cats that allow human contact (i.e. mesh, chain link) must be at least 15 feet from the visitor path. I'm fairly certain some Leopard and snow Leopard exhibits don't have paths that far back, so I wonder if this will require zoos to change anything.
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“(ii) ensures that during public exhibition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jaguar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the animal is at least 15 feet from members of the public unless there is a permanent barrier sufficient to prevent public contact;
As long as there is a barrier between them such as a fence to keep people from getting close to the mesh/chain link holding the cat I think they're covered.
okay, it's one of those things that I'm not sure in practice how it will be used. For instance, if it's a 3-4 foot tall fence (as is often the case), then technically someone could jump over the fence and get closer, so on so forth. I could easily see a particularly strict AWA inspector saying that a fence wasn't compliant as it's still *possible* for visitors to touch the fence, but we will have to see how it is actually executed. Furthermore, this section could give more legal trouble to zoos when those rare incidents where visitors breach habitat barriers occur, such as when someone got over the exterior fence of the Bronx Zoo's lion exhibit.
The only other concern I have with this law, is I want to know how it will affect zoos with breeding facilities not open to the public, such as National Zoo's SCBI (I don't think they have any species that count, but other facilities of this style), or other private, reputable breeders who work with AZA zoos. If a facility isn't open to the public, doesn't this mean they'd be licensed as a Class A breeder, or possibly not at all? @TinoPup may be able to provide a better answer than I (since I know they've done a lot of research with AWA reports), but when I tried looking for an SCBI AWA Inspection Report, I didn't see the facility listed at all, meaning I'm not sure if they even need to be licensed due to the type of facility. Does this bill mean that in the future SCBI wouldn't be able to work with any of the affected species? Are there other private breeders/facilities the AZA cooperates with that will be affected as a result of being closed to the public? I already checked White Oak and EFBC, as they were the first that came to mind, and they are both USDA Class C, but I'm going to do some more research and see who might be affected as a result of license type.
Considering how much the AZA has been pushing this, I wouldn't be surprised if they made plans before hand to make sure that its members don't get negatively affected.
That or they did the human error of being shortsighted.
Also it is "surprising" that cheetahs and clouded leopards, two species AZA zoos still diaplay on leashes in educational shows, are not listed on the article echobeast posted. Honestly this does not satisfy me.
Note that it's not an article, but the exact wording of the law as it was passed shared by @Echobeast. Honestly, while it could be partially due to lobbying on the AZA's part, there could be other reasons that those two species were not included. Clouded leopards in particular aren't a "big" cat, especially when considering weight, as Eurasian lynxes oftentimes even weigh more than cloudies. As such, if the focus of this bill is on "public safety", as the bill title suggests, clouded leopards most certainly do not pose anywhere near the level of threat that any of the included species do. When you say that this "does not satisfy" you, in regards to the species not being included, are you saying that in your opinion it's a bad thing that AZA zoos include cheetahs or clouded leopards in educational presentations? If so, I'm curious to know why you think that's the case, as I personally think that animal ambassador presentations, as long as at their core they are educational, are very much a positive thing. What is about these two species in particular, or these types of presentations in general, that's a concern to you?
Personally, the only thing that bothers me about the species list included is that it uses the outdated scientific name of Uncia uncia for the snow leopard, rather than the accurate scientific name Panthera uncia.
Do you know what year the Latin name changed? The bill could’ve been written before the change and then never was revised afterwards. The inaccuracy honestly doesn’t bother me, since it seems a little semantical and since the bill would have the same consequences regardless of which of the two Latin names was used.
The scientific name was changed by IUCN in 2008, before this bill was first introduced. Yeah, if it was like last year or something that wouldn't bug me too much, but it just goes to show that when drafting this bill someone didn't do their full research, which is problematic in its own right.
I've seen snow leopards being given both generic names in the past few years. I remember when the common name for the snow leopard was 'ounce'.
By article I meant "a clause or section in a written document such as a treaty, contract or statute."
I have previously stated on another thread that I am not a big fan of non-domestic mammals being used for educational shows especially by members of the AZA. I hate to sound like an animal rights activist but I think there are other ways to educate the public other than putting a cheetah on a leash. Sure the event may be memorable to the audience due to the novelty of seeing an exotic animal on a leash, but I am not sure if the information told to the guests would stick on them. I'd also argue that having a cheetah or a clouded leopard on a leash undermines that these animals are wild animals and could cause harm.