Big cats can no longer be kept as pets.

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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263, Senate companion bill S. 1210) by unanimous consent. This follows the bill’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29. The legislation prohibits keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and bans public contact with these species, including paid interactive experiences like cub petting.

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There are untold numbers of captive tigers, lions, leopards and other big cats in the U.S., most living in shoddy roadside zoos, private menageries or in homes as pets. The presence of these cats in our communities is often the consequence of predatory businesses that operate substandard facilities and charge the public for photo ops and for feeding and petting sessions with infant tigers and other big cats. Bred specifically to turn a profit, cubs are torn from their mothers at birth and subjected to neglect and mistreatment as props for these public encounters. This exploitation occurs for a few months until the animals have grown too large to be handled. They are then warehoused in roadside zoos, sold into the pet trade, and some are killed. Meanwhile, in a never-ending cycle, new cubs have been produced, used and disposed of, increasing the number of captive big cats in backyards and basements across America.

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