Humane World for Animals

Protect the Big Cat Public Safety Act!

In 2022, the Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA) became law, a monumental animal welfare victory ending the plight of countless captive tigers, lions, and other big cats who were kept as pets, bred or used for dangerous public contact experiences in exploitative facilities. Now that law is in danger of being weakened, and we need your help to protect big cats!

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives, the misleadingly named Protecting Local Zoos Act (H.R. 7159), undermines protections for big cats set by the BCPSA. It would remove protections for snow leopards and clouded leopards, again allowing these complex, wild animals to be used in encounters and kept as pets. It would also allow wild animal dealers to buy, breed, and sell big cats.

H.R. 7159 would weaken and eliminate historic, bipartisan protections for big cats and we must ensure that captive big cats are protected from cruel exploitation!

Take Action

Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S Representative and ask them to oppose this anti-wildlife bill when it comes to the floor for a vote. You can find his or her contact information here. You can say, "As your constituent, I urge you to oppose H.R. 7159, the Protecting Local Zoos Act. Instead of helping captive animals, this bill would weaken protections for big cats set by the bipartisan Big Cat Public Safety Act, signed into law in 2022."

After making your phone call (please do not skip that crucial step!), fill in and submit the form to automatically send a follow-up message. We encourage you to add your own thoughts or comments in the editable portion, so your representative knows how important this issue is to you.

This action alert is for U.S. residents.

Your message

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Dear Legislator,
 
As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to oppose the misleadingly named Protecting Local Zoos Act, H.R. 7159.

H.R. 7159 would significantly weaken the Big Cat Public Safety Act (Public Law 117-243) by removing guardrails meant to protect big cat species from cruel exploitation. This bill would undermine public safety standards by removing clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa) and snow leopards (Uncia uncia) from the list of covered species—allowing them to be kept as pets—while also creating loopholes that threaten the Big Cat Public Safety Act’s prohibitions on public contact with the dangerous wild animals. Additionally, the bill would create a new exemption for wild animal dealers, entities licensed by the federal government whose business includes the purchase and resale of animals, including brokers and auctioneers.  

The Big Cat Public Safety Act was created to end the plight of countless captive tigers, lions, and other big cats who were bred or used for public contact experiences in exploitative roadside zoos, in private menageries, or who lived in homes as pets. Keeping big cats as pets and allowing the public to come into close and direct contact with them is not only inhumane but poses a serious public safety risk. Since 1990, nearly 450 dangerous incidents involving captive big cats have occurred in 46 states and D.C. These incidents have resulted in the deaths of 5 children and 20 adults and have left hundreds of people injured, some losing limbs or suffering other traumatic injuries.  

Please protect the important work of the Big Cat Public Safety Act by opposing H.R. 7159.  

Thank you.

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