Bill Description:
This bill makes it illegal to sell or own big cats and wolves as pets. [teaserbreak]
Exemptions: zoological parks, circuses, colleges, and universities, animal refuges approved by the Department of Agriculture and Industries, county or municipal humane shelters, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and veterinary clinics. A person who currently owns a prohibited animal may keep the animal, but not acquire new ones.
Background:
the ownership of dangerous wild animals as pets, including big cats and wolves, threatens public safety and has grave implications for animal welfare. According to Born Free USA’s Exotic Animal Incidents Database, there have been multiple attacks by exotic pets in Alabama. In Birmingham in 2003, a pet timber wolf bit an 8-year-old child on the leg. Also in Birmingham, in 2004, a 5-year-old boy was bitten by his family’s pet wolf. Animals such as wolves and tigers may be cute when they are young, but they grow to be strong and aggressive. A wild animal cannot – and should not – be domesticated.
Wild animals kept in captivity endure abusive conditions that may include small cages, tethering, and tooth extraction to “tame” them. They usually cannot engage in natural behaviors, and are deprived of fulfilling interactions with other members of their species. When they become too big to handle, they are often confined in isolation or sometimes simply turned loose, endangering the local community and nearby wildlife. Furthermore, the demand for these animals damages conservation efforts and contributes to declining populations in the wild.
Check out our page on exotic pets for more details on why private ownership of wild animals is both cruel and dangerous. Additionally, read our 2016 report on the online sales of exotic pets, Downloading Cruelty: An Investigation into the Online Sales of Exotic Pets in the U.S., here.
Take Action:
Alabama residents, contact your state representative and urge him or her to support this legislation!
Read the full text and follow its progress here.