Lions Tigers and Bears - Alpine CA
- Thread starter vogelcommando
- Start date
Did you read this article? It is animal extremist propaganda (from IFAW) that is full of half lies. Why would you even post this? The Big Cat Safety Act that she promotes would be detrimental to many reputable education centers and breeders (yes it would also shut down the bad ones, but you're using a blanket approach to throw out the good with the bad).
Out of curiosity, is any part of the article *not* relating to the Big Cat Safety Act a half-lie? I read the article and nothing struck me as particularly problematic.
How and what kinds of facilities would be shut down? I don't have much experience in reading legislation, but I skimmed over the bill and it appears to have a lot of exceptions written in for sanctuaries, facilities with captive breeding programs, etc. It appears to mostly target commercial or non-licensed private holders. There are a couple of things that look like they could cause financial strain on some places (ex. 15 feet distance from public); are restrictions like those the kind of detriments you were referring to?
"There are more tigers in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild." No there are not. This is an urban legend perpetuated by anti-zoo activists with no factual listings to back up their claims. "If you're allowed to touch an exotic cat ...that animal is not being properly cared for." I have touched cubs at Cat Haven which is not a roadside zoo, they are a conservation and education center that directly supports some of the world's best felid conservation initiatives. I can guarantee their cats ARE well cared for (and are not "sold to a roadside zoo" when they get too big). The Big Cat Public Safety Act will shut down education outreach programs by reputable groups (including AZA zoo programs) that go to schools and other events.
Now that you've mentioned it, I remember reading in the past that this was an unsubstantiated claim - although I also couldn't find any solid evidence showing that it is definitively *untrue*, so if you have I'd be curious to know.
I actually did not know that there were reputable places that practiced that. What was the context behind it, and has Cat Haven or other facilities said anything about why the practice of letting people touch exotic cat cubs is not necessarily unethical?
The shutting down of traveling outreach programs was another one of those problematic details I did catch from skimming the legislation. I've read conflicting information about whether or not that is a good practice, but I do believe that staff at accredited, reputable facilities are better judges of that than anti-zoo activists or politicians.