Regrouping for next session and the Big Cat Act

Our call today was for brainstorming and next steps not decisions. Only Jocelyn from HSUS was on so we did not get the benefit of input from your other colleagues. That being said, there was a general consensus that one thing that impaired our bill was that it was complicated and comprehensive and that we might be better off with two much simpler bills.

We talked about one bill that just addressed "private ownership" which pretty much means exempting USDA licensees. Maybe in that bill we try in some way to address the fact that so many pet owners just obtain a USDA license without being exhibitors.

The second bill would focus just on cub petting and photo ops, perhaps using the language in the current bill about contact and 15 foot distance. We talked about whether we want to continue to try to accommodate AZA to get them on board despite Jack Hanna / Columbus Zoo influence there or just throw in the towel given their very slow and waffling consensus process and instead go with language we like and just seek support from the more progressive AZA zoos like those who signed on to one of our past letters (this latter part obviously strategy not legal, just context FYI because it affects drafting).

The other possibility I brought up but we left subject to my chatting with you is a bill focused on breeding. As we have discussed, FWS does no enforcement of the breeding permit requirement we thought were created with the rescission of the generic tiger rule. Separately FWS interprets the requirement to show a conservation purpose as pay to play. So I wondered whether with legislation we could correct this by mandating enforcement of getting a breeding permit, establish a definition of conservation purpose (or whatever the term is) that we like instead of pay to play, and perhaps by definition establish that mixed subspecies have no conservation value so cannot pass the conservation purpose test.

Soooo, was wondering if you might have time maybe in the coming week for you and I, perhaps Carole join us, and just bat around the issues these ideas raise within your area of expertise like thoughts on how to draft, if possible to draft, relative constitutional strength, if the third idea of going after breeding in the way I mention above or any other way is possible from your standpoint?

Sound like fun? 😃

Howard Baskin | Advisory Board Chairman | Big Cat Rescue

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

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