Washington, D.C. — Today, Animal Wellness Action and its affiliates applauded U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley, D-Ill. and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., for reintroducing the Big Cat Public Safety Act about one month after the House passed the measure by a commanding vote of 272 to 114 and putting it on a path toward enactment. Quigley and … Read more
The U.S. House of Representatives roared last month when it voted to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 1380). It was a giant step toward passing legislation that will ban the trade of big cats as pets and will stop their exploitation for cub petting and roadside zoos — two forms of unethical … Read more
Press Release Washington, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act tonight by a vote of 272 to 114, eight months after the salacious reality television series “Tiger King” put the animal welfare and public safety issues of private ownership of tigers and lions on the American radar … Read more
Press Release Washington, D.C. — The trade in big cats for the pet trade and for cub petting always turns out badly for the animals, and it often turns out badly for people who cross paths with them, a coalition of lawmakers, law enforcement leaders, and animal welfare groups asserted as the House prepares to … Read more
USDA Suspends Exhibition Permit for Jeff Lowe, as Joe Exotic’s Former Business Partner Announces He’s Closing the Zoo (Oklahoma City) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the federal Animal Welfare Act through an on-site inspection program, has suspended the exhibition license of Jeff Lowe, the operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park … Read more
The Zoological Association of America, the bill’s primary opponent, has withdrawn its opposition In the salacious Netflix series “Tiger King,” the public got both a magnified and distorted view of the antagonists in the debate over roadside zoos that exploit big cats. Instead of taking a deep dive into the life story of even a … Read more
Organ harvesting of bears and breeding of tigers for cub petting are matters federal lawmakers should handle without a second thought For charitable purposes only, I wish I had a dollar for every time I told a lawmaker or anyone else about some peculiar form of animal exploitation and they replied, “I had no idea … Read more
Lions in Africa and tigers in Asia are in peril in their native habitats — the victims of retribution killing, the trade in their parts (tiger penises and lion bones), human encroachment and habitat fragmentation, and, in the case of the lions, trophy hunting. But in the United States, they are strangely abundant not only at … Read more
WASHINGTON, DC —Today, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, chaired by longtime champion of animal welfare, wildlife, and conservation issues, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), advanced a set of major animal protection bills affecting marine and terrestrial wildlife The mark-up hearing included the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (H.R. 737), the Big Cat Public Safety … Read more
The U.S. can play a major role by halting imports of sport-hunted trophies of threatened and endangered species According to a report issued by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service this spring, the United States granted import permits between 2013 and 2017 for 32,100 black bears, 10,122 sandhill cranes, 2,645 African lions, 2,552 Chacma baboons, and 2,148 mountain … Read more