The situation concerning captive wild animals is becoming critical. Children and adults are increasingly being bitten, scratched or killed by wild animals kept as pets in this country.

Every month there are a number of incidents involving human injury, death and animal escape, most we never hear about. In an effort to understand the extent of the problem CWAPC maintains an extensive database to track incidents involving wild animals.

So far, this year alone (2003), there have been at least 22 recorded big cat incidents. This includes 2 fatalities, 11 injuries, and 9 animal escapes. In the past 5 years there have been at least 68 incidents involving captive big cats; this includes 7 deaths, 35 injuries, and 26 animal escapes. CWAPC also tracks reported incidents involving other captive wild animals including primates, bears, wolves and reptiles; the total number of incidents is much larger.

"Even the most highly trained tiger can revert to her wild instincts in a second," says Sarah Tyack, Deputy Director of Animals in Distress for The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). "Yet thousands of tigers languish in houses and yards across the nation. How many more injuries and attacks must happen before this ridiculous situation is addressed?" asks Tyack.

What You Can Do:
You can help prevent your child, neighbor, friend or pet from being the next statistic by doing three simple things:
1. Immediately report any situation involving wild animals that seems dangerous to people and/or inhumane to animals to local police, animal control and to CWAPC;
2. Support federal and state legislation to regulate the trade in wild animals for use as pets;
3. Never buy a wild animal as a pet!!

"Earlier this year, we had a scare with an outbreak of monkeypox," states Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. "Now, there's been a flurry of incidents involving big cats. Before the next pet-keeping fad causes us problems, it is time to adopt state and federal policies to halt the trade in wild animals for use as pets."

The Captive Wildlife Safety Act (S. 269 and H.R. 1006) was passed unanimously by the Senate on October 31, 2003, making it a federal crime to sell lions and tigers across state lines, setting up legal barriers to combat the private trade in big cats.

By unanimous consent, senators approved the bill by Ensign and James Jeffords, I-Vt. The House has not yet voted on the Bill.

Recognizing the serious human safety and animal welfare concerns of the burgeoning pet trade in big cats, Senators James Jeffords (I-VT) and John Ensign (R-NV) and Representatives Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and George Miller (D-CA) introduced this legislation to outlaw the interstate shipment of wild cats -- specifically lions, tigers, cheetahs, cougars, jaguars, and leopards -- for the pet trade. We hope the full House will take up the bill shortly, pass it, and send a final bill to President Bush for his signature.

Thousands of big cats, perhaps as many as 15,000, are kept as pets in the United States, often languishing in cramped cages and backyards of owners ill-prepared to care for them -- and posing a serious public safety threat. No federal law currently restricts the sale or ownership of these animals, while only nineteen states -- Alaska, Californiaa, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming -- have any meaningful restrictions on private possession of big cats. A combined federal-state approach is needed to keep these animals out of the pet trade altogether.

---Act Now!---

Thank your U.S. senators for supporting the Senate bill, and urge your representative to approve the House version of the Captive Wildlife Safety Act (S. 269/H.R. 1006) when it comes to a vote. To reach your legislators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. If you live in a state that allows private ownership of exotic animals, tell your lawmakers to pass a law prohibiting dangerous animals from being kept as pets. To find out who your state legislators are, call The Humane Society of the United States at 202-955-3668 or visit www.congress.org.

Last November, state and federal officials in California seized ten young tigers from a USDA-licensed, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called "Tiger Rescue," after finding them in filthy, cramped cages, without water, and suspecting the owner of illegal breeding. And this April, the operator of Tiger Rescue, John Weinhart, was arrested when dozens of dead tiger remains were found at his home, including 58 dead tiger cubs in the freezer. The surviving animals found at the home, thirteen tiger and leopard cubs, were brought to The Fund for Animals' Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where they were bottle-fed around the clock and treated for malnutrition and dehydration. All but one survived.

Tiger Rescue, while calling itself a sanctuary and soliciting donations from the public, was a "pseudo-sanctuary" that reportedly bred animals and exploited them for commercial profit. After Weinhart's arrest, Chuck Traisi of The Fund for Animals and hundreds of volunteers in California stepped in to care for the remaining 39 tigers, twelve leopards, two lions, a single cougar, and various farmed animals who remained at the Tiger Rescue property.

Several groups – including The Fund for Animals, the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, the American Sanctuary Association, The Association of Sanctuaries, and The Humane Society of the United States – worked together to find good homes for the animals. Over 125 exotic animal sanctuaries were contacted throughout the country. Although there were a number of people happy to take the big cats in, the groups screened each facility to be sure they were credible.

Locations that were eliminated from the list of possible homes were facilities that bred animals, allowed people into enclosures with animals for petting and picture taking, traveled with animals, had previous Animal Welfare Act violations, or used animals for entertainment purposes. As a result, there were only a few credible sanctuaries willing and able to provide refuge for the Tiger Rescue cats.

The Exotic Feline Rescue Center, Rocky Mountain Wildlife Conservation Center, Shambala Preserve, the Folsom City Zoo/Sanctuary, and the Austin Zoo all were able to generously provide good homes for some of the exotic cats. At the time of press, 39 tigers still remain at Tiger Rescue, and the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is willing to take them if funding can be provided to build a new ten-acre enclosure for the tigers. The Fund for Animals has raised $150,000 toward the cost for PAWS to build the new tiger enclosure-through a fundraising event held in Los Angeles by former Mayor Richard Riordan and his daughter Kathleen, an original commissioned portrait donated by pop art icon Peter Max, and other solicitations-but about $100,000 is still needed. Please contact The Fund for Animals if you would like to help.

The events at Tiger Rescue exemplify the growing problem of exotic animal pseudo-sanctuaries in this country. By breeding animals and promoting wild animals as "pets" or sources of entertainment, pseudo-sanctuaries are responsible for immense suffering and animal cruelty. There are thousands of exotic animals living in filthy cages, suffering from starvation, pain, and isolation at pseudo-sanctuaries similar to Tiger Rescue.

Better regulations need to be enacted as well as proper enforcement of existing laws. The U.S. Congress is considering legislation that would restrict the interstate transport of big cats. Please contact your Senator and Representative and ask them to support the Captive Wildlife Safety Act. Visit http://action.fund.org on the web for a sample letter or to find out who your federal legislators are.

Additionally, people who wish to help exotic animals by donating time, money and resources to a sanctuary need to be sure they are not dealing with a pseudo-sanctuary. Some tell-tale signs that an exotic animal sanctuary may actually be a pseudo-sanctuary include:

• Pictures and promotion of baby animals.
• Any animal breeding.
• Being open to the public for long periods of time on a regular basis.
• Charging a fee to view an animal.
• Allowing members of the public into enclosures and close to animals for pictures, petting, or feeding.
• Activities such as tours, exhibits, public events with animals, and entertainment acts that use animals.
• Animals pacing back and forth in a cage.
• Taking animals off site for exhibition, fundraising, "educational," or entertainment purposes.
• Demonstrations and pictures of people hugging, kissing, or cuddling with animals.
• Dressing animals in human clothes.
• Associations with fairs, circuses, roadside and petting zoos.
• The fact that an establishment is USDA-certified or has 501(c)(3) nonprofit status does not guarantee that it is a real sanctuary. Many pseudo-sanctuaries are USDA-licensed and are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, just as Tiger Rescue was.
• Similarly, statements that all proceeds directly benefit the animals do not guarantee a place is a real sanctuary. Pseudo-sanctuaries often make this type of claim.