Captive Wildlife Issues

Help Stop Cruel Cub Petting

and the Big Cat Pet Trade

PAWS continues to support the federal Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R.263/S. 1210). The bill would ban the private ownership of big cats such as lions and tigers and restrict public contact with these animals, putting an end to cub petting operations and their enless breeding of big cats for profit.

Click here for more information and to see what you can do to help.

Have You Taken the Pledge

to Help Elephants?

PAWS has launched a new campaign called Take the Pledge! to bring attention to the use of elephants for tourism and elephant “encounters” overseas and in the U.S. The only way to stop this form of exploitation is through education and by decreasing demand for these attractions.

Read more about PAWS' "Take the Pledge" campaign here.

Click above to sign PAWS' petition on Change.org.

2021 State Legislation

Concerning Captive Wildlife

Following is a list of state bills introduced in 2021 to protect captive wild animals. If you live in one of these states, please take action to support your bill. 

Massachusetts – H. 3376 (House – introduced by Reps. Lori Ehrlich and Bradley Jones, Jr.) and S. 2251 (Senate – introduced by Sen. Bruce Tarr) would prohibit the use of elephants, big cats (including hybrids), bears, primates, and giraffes in traveling shows.

Status: H. 3376/S.2251 referred to Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. Follow progress of the bills here or here. See the MSPCA information page for this bill here and sign up for alerts.

Action: Contact members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development and urge them to support H. 3376/S. 2251. If your legislator is on this committee, it is especially important to take action. Find your Massachusetts state legislators here.

New York – Assembly Bill 5542, sponsored by Asm. Steve Englebright, would prohibit the issuance of permits authorizing the use of wild animals in circuses or traveling animal acts.

Status: Bill referred to Committee on Environmental Conservation. Follow progress of the bill here.

Action: If your Assembly member sits on the Committee on Environmental Conservation (see list here), contact them in support of this bill, as written.

Nevada – SB 344, sponsored by Sen. James Ohrenschall, has been amended to prohibit public contact with dangerous wild animals.

Status: The bill has been sent to Governor Steve Sisolak for his signature.

Action: Use this online form to contact Governor Steve Sisolak and urge him to sign the bill into law.

You can also track the progress of your bill and calls for timely action by following the Humane Society of the U.S. Facebook page for your state or signing up for emails from animal protection organizations involved in your state’s bill.

Elephant Incidents

• Click here to check Elephant Incidents PDF file
• Click here for surplus animals PDF file (text only)