Quigley Statement on Senate Passage of Big Cat Public Safety Act

Today U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), the lead sponsor of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, released a statement applauding the Senate's unanimous passage of the bipartisan legislation.

"This bill has been one of the most important projects during my time in Congress. Since 2019, we have been working on this legislation and last night, I was so proud to see the Senate push it across the finish line. I believe in this bill, as do countless animal rights groups and law enforcement agencies who will benefit from its passage," said Quigley. "For too long, lax laws have allowed private citizens to own big cats. Big cats are wild creatures—they should not be subjected to a life of confinement, where they are used and abused for entertainment purposes. Additionally, the possibility of one of these cats escaping, will no longer loom over our communities and first responders. These cats will be safer, and so will we. I look forward to President Biden signing this bill into law."

"Passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act addresses a reckless cruelty that has festered for years. For too long tiger cubs have been exploited by "pay to play" operators like Joe Exotic and Doc Antle who profited from charging people for photo ops of their children holding these potentially dangerous wild animals. Since 1990, more than 400 incidents involving captive big cats have occurred in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Five children and 19 adults have been killed and hundreds of others injured, some losing limbs or suffering other traumatic injuries," said Sara Amundson, President of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. "The bill's enactment stops what was an endless cycle of exploiting and mistreating big cat cubs, who were dumped after they grew too large for photo ops. The legislation's lead sponsors Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Mike Quigley, and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick rightly saw this as a public safety threat and a gross cruelty. We urge President Biden to sign the bill without delay."

"Following the Senate's historic approval of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, this essential legislation is finally very close to becoming law," said Susan Millward, Executive Director of AWI. "We must end the exploitative and dangerous trade in pet big cats, and ensure that no more cubs are ripped from their mothers at birth to be traumatized for profit. I thank the sponsors for their tireless work to pass this bill and advance protections for captive big cats in the United States."

"This momentous success is thanks to a long-fought battle by numerous organizations, individual advocates, and tireless wildlife champions in the House and Senate. Born Free USA has been advocating for this bill since it was first introduced in 2012, and we have worked diligently since then to see it through the legislative process," said Angela Grimes, CEO of Born Free USA. "We are immensely grateful to Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Richard Burr (R-NC), as well as the House sponsors, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), for their unshakeable commitment to protecting both future generations of big cats, as well as the public and first responders from the serious risk of injury these dangerous animals pose when kept irresponsibly in private hands. To say we are delighted with today's news is an understatement."

"I would like to thank Representative Quigley and his staff for taking the lead on this bill and for their tireless work for years to get this bill passed into law. The law will save from mistreatment thousands of big cats who would have been born into the abusive cub petting trade and then would have ended up in miserable conditions in backyards. It will also avoid putting first responders put into danger because now they will at least know where big cats are kept in their communities," said Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue.

Representative Quigley previously introduced the Big Cat Public Safety Act in 2019, and it successfully passed out of the House of Representatives in December 2020. Unfortunately, the legislation did not receive a vote in the Senate, prompting Rep. Quigley to reintroduce this bill once again during the 117th Congress. The bill then passed the full House earlier this year. The Big Cat Public Safety Act will now head to President Biden's desk for signature.

In 2020, public awareness of the plight of big cats kept in private ownership increased dramatically after the release of the Netflix series Tiger King. The series revealed the miserable conditions thousands of tigers, lions, leopards, and pumas are kept in by irresponsible owners. These conditions pose a grave risk not only to the animals themselves but to the first responders who too often must confront these animals and to the public at large.