Invoking 'Tiger King,' House passes bill banning big cat ownership

[demmiblue]

Source: CNN

(CNN)The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bipartisan bill that would ban private ownership of big cats like lions and tigers, after the wildly popular Netflix docuseries "Tiger King" helped renew attention on the issue.

The "Big Cat Public Safety Act" passed the House Thursday night on a 272-114 vote, with 48 Republicans voting with Democrats to approve the measure.

Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois, the bill's main author, said the legislation's passage is "one step closer to ensuring these animals are treated humanely and to keeping the public safe from dangerous big cats."

"Big cats are wild animals that simply do not belong in private homes, backyards, or shoddy roadside zoos," he added in a statement Friday.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/04/politics/tiger-king-house-bill-big-cat-ownership/index.html

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[flamin lib]

1. I see this with mixed emotions. Keeping these creatures as 'pets'

is abhorrent.

Yet there is a large population of tigers and lions in the US. With wild numbers still falling, these 'pets' may be the only hope for re-populating the wild if they can be rehabilitated and released. That's a big challenge for animals that are second or third generation 'domesticated'.

[IronLionZion]

3. These big cats probably couldn't be released into the wild

since they would have been caged for multiple generations and many have health problems from poor breeding practices.

[VA_Jill]

5. Many of those

are or should be in sanctuaries. Proper breeding of them should be left to zoos which know what to do with them and how not to perpetuate any genetic defects.

[Codeine]

11. Those pet animals are useless as breeding stock.

There’s inbreeding galore, crossing of species, and zero records regarding parentage.

[IronLionZion]

2. The House is passing a lot of good bills

let's see if the Senate passes it so President Biden can sign it into law.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Then we probably need more large preserves/rescues for them to go to

Because there's far too many here for the existing large-scale 'real' zoos.

I could see saying no MORE housing animals in such places, but the ones that are already there?

Is there plans for where they're all going to go in this bill or do they just want to ban the ownership w/o figuring where the cats will all go?

I mean ... would we rather that the animals are destroyed vs. kept in shoddy roadside 'zoos', cause there's no place to legally put them?

I wouldn't.

[Codeine]

12. I would.

Every specimen kept in those environments is going to be used for illicit breeding and underground sales. Kinder to have them put down.

[mr_lebowski]

15. Order them all immediately sterilized then ...

And registered, with compliance/accountability, and jail time for unregistered sales or animals not sterile.

[NickB79]

13. I'm a big fan of Pleistocene Rewilding

It's the idea to restore as best we can the megafauna lost at the end of the last Ice Age as man hunted them to extinction. It's being done with some success by a scientist in Siberia right now.

Lions were native to North America until 10,000 years ago. I say release them on the Great Plains and Texas. Restore the buffalo and elk herds and let them hunt.

I'm mostly serious on this too.

[Bayard]

6. I'd like to get an idea of how many animals this would apply to

If we're talking about re-homing 200 or 2,000.

Sorry to say, not all will be suitable for relocating, either physically or mentally, too far gone. I think they should then be put down after careful and informed consideration by professionals. It would be the kindest thing to do at that point.

Really hoping most can be saved to live out their lives in peace. I also hope this will end any importation and/or sale of the animals. We should also be working with the source countries to end this.

[NickB79]

14. There are over 4000 tigers in the US alone as pets

Most than in the wild.

If you add leopards, cougars and lions, some estimates put the number at 10,000.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-06-01/big-cat-ownership-us-big-problem

[sakabatou]

7. Doubt it'll go anywhere

[marble falls]

8. Ban the private ownership of all wildlife. I hope if this becomes law it has some "bite" to it.

[iluvtennis]

9. Great news! nt

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Scariest roars

were in the 80s when a neighbor about 5/8 mile away had a lion. On a quiet warm summer day, it would ROAR around dinner time. Made you think twice.

They doing anything about snakes? Because you can find almost anything online, and I have the sense they move them all over the country, and really, the world.

[mopinko]

16. big lizards, too.

there was a story posted here a few days ago about a black and white lizard that is starting to be a problem.

why ppl own big snakes is beyond me.
small ones sure. but pythons? ya gotta be kiddin me.