The “Big Cat Safety Act” was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2022. The law bans the controversial practice of “cub petting” and/or allowing members of the public to pick up and caress and handle the cubs of lions, tigers, leopards and other exotic animals. The law also prohibits new private ownership of big cats as pets. Current owners of big cats will be grandfathered and may keep the animals, however must register them with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, some states have restrictions banning the private possession of certain wild animals while other states have had none leaving the animals vulnerable to abuse. The new law now makes it illegal for exhibitors, including circuses and zoos to allow visitors to have direct contact with cubs. In the past there have been some facilities allowing visitors, at an extra expense of course, to bottle feed the cubs, These facilities continued breeding the animals for financial gain and to sell the cubs, once they had grown past the cute, cuddly and “safe” stage and then to be sold to private individuals or killed when the animals no longer produced income.
In the past few decades, the private breeding and ownership of exotic cats have grown exponentially, and it is estimated there are more tigers in the United States living in captivity than in the wild globally. No data has been able to pinpoint the exact number, considering these magnificent animals can be seen in isolated roadside zoos to backyards to mansions. Since no permits have been required, there is no way to track all of the animals being neglected, abused or killed.
If you have wondered what an exotic cat would cost, KtkrNews, reported the popular animals like tigers can sell for less than $1,000, but the prices for the cute cubs can be twice as much. Other more rare animals like a gazelle or zebra could sell for as much as $20,000.
Since 1990, there have been at least 400 dangerous incidents involving captive big cats in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Big cats took the lives of five children and caused serious injuries to others, including lost limbs and other traumatic injuries. Captive big cats also killed 20 adults and mauled scores of others.
Among the most dramatic incidents was an October 2011 incident in Zanesville, Ohio, in which a private exotic animal owner released dozens of big cats near a community, requiring law enforcement to kill the cats—and risk their own lives—for the sake of public safety.
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