(Photo : Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Wildlife WayStation)
Once the Big Cat Public Safety Act is approved, people will be banned from owning large felines like tigers as pets, and any violation will result in a penalty.
If the Big Cat Public Safety Act becomes law, there would be no repeat of what happened last week wherein a Bengal tiger was discovered roaming a Houston front yard, reported CNN via MSN.
Keeping big cats will not be allowed anymore, and anyone wanting lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, cougars, and jaguars in the House as pets will be disappointed, according to Awion Online.
No more Tigers for Pets
Some exemptions will be observed, as zoos and wildlife sanctuaries will still keep the animals mentioned above. Anyone who has any of these large felines should register their animals.
According to an April statement by the Animal Welfare Institute, "Having public petting, playing with, eating, and photo ops with cubs will also be discouraged under the law."
All the revenue made from allowing people to hold and interact with cubs is the main factor of surplus tigers increasing the exotic animal trade in the United States, culminating in the trauma and abuse of an unknown number of animals mentioned by the Institute.
CNN reported the Institute as saying, "Breeders often separate mother cats from their cubs immediately after birth. This interrupts the mother-cub bonding process and taxes cubs."
The Big Cat Public Safety Act
In December, the Big Cat Public Safety Act passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 272-114. Nevertheless, the bill was not considered by the Senate well before the end of the congressional session.
Read also: Mountain Lion Viciously Attacks 6-Year Old Girl in Park, Saved by Man With Hard Punch in Ribs
The bill has been brought back in the Senate, where Democrats currently hold a slim majority. To prevent tigers from becoming dangerous house pets in the future, animal welfare and public safety activists urge the lower House to pass the act this year.
Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue and star of the Netflix series Tiger King, said that keeping Tigers is more common in Texas.
She added, "Since tigers are predisposed to roam hundreds of square miles, no cage would be sufficient for them. The only reason folks see tigers as pets is to display to other people."
A missing Bengal tiger called India
When a 9-month-old Bengal tiger named India was spotted wandering through a Houston residential neighborhood last May 9, she encouraged senators, particularly those from Texas, to endorse the Big Cat Public Safety Act.
Soon after, a man placed the Tiger in an SUV and went somewhere with the big cat; authorities had no idea where the animal was.
The Tiger was turned in to authorities last Saturday, about six days after India went missing, said the Houston Police. Both the Tiger and the general public were extremely fortunate in this instance.
Houston Police wrote in a Tweet, "They are thrilled to confirm that the missing tiger who was seen in a Houston neighborhood last week has been rescued and appears to be in good condition,"
Ron Barza, the Houston Police Commander stated, India weighed 175 pounds and was "highly heavy" even though it wasn't fully grown.
India was transferred to Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas, last Sunday. The Humane Society of the United States owns and runs the animal shelter. That will take care of the Tiger from here on.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act should get passed to prevent having these large felines become dangerous pets.
Related article: Chicago Sets Loose 1,000 Feral Cats to Control Increasing Rat Infestation
