Your Weekly Animal & Wildlife Welfare Report: Dean Winters, Bill Maher, Grilled (Fake) “Dog, The Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R.1380), Dennis Engard of Newark, Ohio, Wildlife Snuggling, Gray Wolf may be taken off the Endangered Species Act & Victories in February!
Breaking: The Trump Administration just announced plans to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act. If nothing is urgently done, thousands of wolves will be shot for trophies, crushed in steel traps for fur, and moms and pups will be poisoned in their dens. Supporters like you stopped this same fate for the grizzly bear. Will you act now to protect the last remaining gray wolves?
U.S. House of Representatives: Trump’s Staggering Death Warrant for America’s Wolves
U.S. House of Representatives: Trump’s Staggering Death Warrant for America’s Wolves
This is it. Trump's declared a nationwide war on wolves. He's pulling the plug on saving America's wolves. His plan will strip Endangered Species Act protection from nearly every wolf in the lower 48.
Here's what will happen next: We'll return to the days when wolves were shot on sight, crushed in steel traps and poisoned with their families in their dens. Thousands of wolves will die. And more than four decades of work to save these iconic animals will come to a screeching, bloody halt.
Across the country these smart, social animals are still just getting a toehold on survival after being driven to the brink of extinction. Only a single known wolf pack lives wild in all of California, where packs once roamed free.
In the few places where wolves exist today they still face persecution. States beholden to special interests are eager to let them be hunted, trapped and poisoned with the same kind of violence that nearly drove them extinct more than a century ago.
Remember what happened after Trump ended protection for Yellowstone's grizzly bears. The state of Wyoming quickly launched a plan to let trophy hunters shoot more than 20 bears that wandered out of the national park.
You can’t make this stuff up: It’s heartbreaking, yet also shocking.
Just this month, a person in Houston entered an abandoned home—and came face to face with an adult male tiger. The animal was trapped in a shoddy cage that was too small and too weak for a creature his size.
Thankfully, animal-control officers from the local shelter acted quickly and the tiger is now safe at a Texas sanctuary. Many large cats aren’t so lucky: For years, we’ve learned about tigers kept in terrible conditions in apartments, gas stations, junkyards, tattoo parlors, and more.
But there’s something we can do to help these animals. Just this week, the Big Cat Public Safety Act was introduced into the 116th Congress, which will prevent exotic pet owners from acquiring big cats and prevent roadside zoos from selling interactive experiences with big cats. It’s up to you to help make sure it passes.
Tigers and other big cats are held captive in the U.S., living in poorly run roadside zoos, traveling zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries and private menageries, and are transported across the country to be kept as personal pets. Many are in grossly inhumane conditions, exploited for profit and forced to live in cramped, flimsy cages.
Many of these so-called "zoos" charge the public to view and even interact with tiger cubs, which greatly increases the risk of public injuries and harm to the young cubs.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act would put a stop to these dangerous conditions, finally giving these animals the protections they deserve. Once passed, this landmark legislation will close loopholes in existing laws by outlawing the breeding and possession of big cats like tigers, lions, and leopards by unqualified individuals and facilities.
Add your name today: Tell Congress to protect innocent tigers,lions, and other big cats from irresponsible individuals, and pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act without delay!
Throughout the United States, thousands of big cats are kept in cramped, barren cages as pets or as attractions in roadside zoos and similar poorly run facilities for public contact activities. When kept in captivity, these large predatory animals require behavioral enrichment and special diets and veterinary care, as well as spacious natural habitat enclosures that provide them opportunities to exercise and express natural behaviors. However, big cats kept by unqualified people do not benefit from such conditions. Instead, they have been found badly neglected and living in deplorable settings, ranging from junkyards to truck stops to tattoo parlors to empty concrete pools.
These situations are not just harmful to the animals -- they also pose public safety hazards. More than 375 dangerous incidents involving tigers, lions and other big cats kept in private hands have occurred since 1990, resulting in two dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries. Four children lost their lives, and dozens of others lost limbs or suffered other traumatic injuries. In many cases, the animals were shot and killed, often by first responders who are not trained to deal with such situations.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R.1380) strengthens existing laws to prohibit possession of big cats by individuals who do not have USDA licenses and by banning public contact activities. Your voice is needed to encourage passage of this bill.
TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative. Look up your legislator's phone number. You can simply say, "Please support the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R.1380). This bill will protect big cats by keeping them out of the hands of people who would exploit them or not care for them properly."
Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative. Look up your legislator's phone number. You can simply say, "Please support the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R.1380). This bill will protect big cats by keeping them out of the hands of people who would exploit them or not care for them properly."
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Don Lichterman
Sunset Corporation of America (SCA)
Sustainable Action Network (SAN)