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Carole Baskin Wins—Senate Passes Big Cat Ownership Ban

Carole Baskin Wins—Senate Passes Big Cat Ownership Ban

After years of advocacy and one absolutely wild docuseries, the Tiger King-inspired Big Cat Public Safety Act is finally headed to President Joe Biden‘s desk after the U.S. Senate voted unanimously in support of it.

With an official stamp from Biden, the bill will gradually phase out private ownership of the animals and would also put an end to “cubpetting,” a service where people can pay to play or take photos with tiger cubs and other big cats.

Carole Baskin, the CEO of Florida rescue facility Big Cat Rescue and one of Tiger King‘s most famous stars, fought hard for the bill that would limit private ownership of big cats like tigers.

“For me, this fight for the big cats was never personal,” Baskin said. “This was always about developing a national policy to shut down the trade in these animals as props in commercial cub handling operations and as pets in people’s backyards and basements.”

Under the bill, possession of big cats would be limited to wildlife sanctuaries, state universities and certified zoos. It would also ban breeding of the cats except by a certified zoo or animal exhibitor. Those on display would need to stay at minimum 15 feet away from the public or behind a permanent barrier to prevent contact.

It looks like there won’t be many more cool cats and kittens hanging around.

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