Letter #1

Dear Congressman XXXXXX,

I am writing to ask you to support H.R.1998 / S.1381, the “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act”.

H.R.1998 / S.1381 would prohibit the private ownership of big cats for personal possession or financial gain. Current owners would be grandfathered in to keep their exotic cats, but they could not acquire more or breed the ones they have. All exotic cat owners would be required to register their animals. Lions and tigers would still be found at accredited zoos and sanctuaries.

Passing H.R.1998 / S.1381 into law is crucial for two reasons: it preserves the safety of every person living in our country and it saves countless exotic cats from a captive life of neglect, abuse and outright misery.

In the past 21 years in the United States, big cats were directly responsible for the deaths of 5 children and 17 adults. In that same time, hundreds of savage attacks by captive exotic cats have been catalogued with injuries sustained being loss of limbs, brain damage, full body paralysis, broken bones, blindness, deafness, severe lacerations, etc.

Humans suffer when these apex predators act naturally on their instincts. But it is the lions and tigers in cages that suffer every single second of every single day by being deprived of their freedom. On top of that, they are often confined to tiny ramshackle cages with no shelter from the heat and cold, are fed poor diets, receive no veterinary care, and are offered no mental stimulation or emotional enrichment. Also, due to these animals being massive, powerful and aggressive, handlers use barbaric methods to control them such as stun guns, cattle prods, whips, pepper spray and even hot sauce.

Please support H.R.1998 / S.1381! You will not only be preventing future tragedies of people being mauled, but you will also be saving exotic cats from a pathetic substandard imprisoned existence.

Thank you!