The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act on Thursday.
The bill was pushed by Carole Baskin and was featured in “Tiger King.” The bill aimed to ban most ownership of big cats by the public. The bill passed 272-114 and is an expansion of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981. The bill specifically limits who is able to transport, sell, buy, breed or possess big cats, including lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars or hybrids of those animals, Entertainment Tonight reported.
Today, the House is scheduled to vote on the Big Cat Public Safety Act. The bill seeks to federally ban private ownership of AND public contact with big cats—essentially ending the U.S. cub petting industry.
I’ve been covering this industry for @natgeo for a while now. THREAD!
— Natasha Daly (@natashaldaly) December 3, 2020
Baskin praised the bill being passed with “bipartisan support.” (RELATED: A Tiger At Carole Baskin’s Zoo Almost Bit Off Arm Of Volunteer During Routine Feeding)
“We are thrilled that the Big Cat Public Safety Act passed the House with bipartisan support to protect the big cats from abuse, the public and first responders from injuries and death, and the tiger in the wild from extinction,” Baskin said about the bill passing in a statement on Facebook. “None of these important goals are partisan in any way and we hope the Senate will follow suit quickly to make it into law.”
Baskin pushed for the passing of the Big Cat Public Safety Act earlier this week after a volunteer almost had her arm bitten off.
“The fact that, despite our intense safety protocols and excellent record of safety, an injury like this can occur just confirms the inherent danger in dealing with these animals and why we need the Big Cat Public Safety Act to eliminate having them untracked in backyards around the country and ending up in sanctuaries where wonderful people like Candy Couser have committed themselves to providing care for those discarded by the pay to play industry,” the statement shared on the Big Cat Rescue’s website said.