Citing ‘Tiger King’, House passes bill banning possession of big cats

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

Illinois Democratic Representative Mike Quigley, the bill’s lead author, said passing the law was “one step closer to ensuring these animals are treated humanely and protecting the public from dangerous big cats. “

“Big cats are wild animals that just don’t belong in shoddy private homes, gardens or roadside zoos,” he added in a statement Friday.
As Americans gathered at home at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Netflix launched “Tiger King,” centered around Joseph Maldonado-Passage – who calls himself “Joe Exotic” – an eccentric keeper of big cats in Oklahoma. Maldonado-Passage is currently in jail for killing five tigers as well as several other wildlife violations, and a murder plot against Carole Baskin, which was featured extensively in “Tiger King” and was fierce criticism of his wildlife park.

Quigley told the House on Thursday that “‘Tiger King’ has shown the world with deep relief just how exploitative, dangerous and inhumane this small so-called industry is.”

Democratic Representative Ed Case of Hawaii, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said Thursday the bill would end animal abuse and “bad actors like the ones we saw on” Tiger King. ” “.

Although his accompanying Senate bill has Republican cosponsors, his future is less certain in the Upper House after GOP leaders slammed House Democrats for voting on this bill and another decriminalizer. marijuana, instead of focusing on relief coronavirus legislation.

Quigley, however, argued that “too often law enforcement and first responders are the ones who find themselves in danger because of these animals and, at a time when our first responders are already facing a increased risk of a pandemic, we owe it to them to limit the additional dangers they face at work. “

The Senate companion bill did not come out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which held its last session markup on Wednesday.

In the House Thursday, Utah Republican Rob Bishop also argued that the bill “is not intended to protect the public from big cats,” but “to hurt small family zoos through the country”.

Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, co-sponsor of the bill, denied that the measure unfairly targets small zoos, and Quigley said U.S. taxpayers would bear the cost of feeding and caring for big cats after they are rescued or rescued. abandonment.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act has been endorsed by animal welfare groups like the Humane Society of the United States, but also has the support of some law enforcement organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police.

“Passage of Big Cat Public Safety Act by the United States House will help end public safety risks associated with private property, ban public contact based on snatching babies from their mothers for “ pay to play ” and taking operations selfie, and cripple the shady networks that put these animals at risk of being killed for the wildlife trade. It is now up to the US Senate to pass the bill and put the cruelty described in ‘Tiger King’ on the garbage heap of history to which it belongs, ”said the president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, Sara Amundson, in a statement.

Baskin, who has lobbied for the bill for years and owns Big Cat Rescue in Florida, celebrated passage of the bill, saying it “will protect the big cats from abuse, the public and the first. advocates against injury and death, and tigers in the wild. from extinction. ”She urged the Senate to act quickly on the bill. Big Cat Rescue told CNN on Thursday that an attack on a volunteer by a tiger at its facilities only reinforced why the bill should pass.

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