Date: 2003-11-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and his efforts for helping to bring this bill to the floor. And I also thank the gentleman from California for his steadfast efforts to get this bill before the committee. I also want to take a moment to thank Loren Bausell and Jean Flemma. both former staff of mine. who helped initially craft this legislation when I introduced this bill has year. and worked with the gentleman from California on this years proposal. * I also want to thank the gentleman from California . chairman of the Committee on Resources. and the gentleman from Maryland . the subcommittee chair. for their efforts. I would like to join the gentleman from California in also thanking Tippi ledren. who has been involved in this issue for so many years and whom I have had an opportunity to meet with numerous times on this subject matter. To see this bill now come to the floor I think is an important milestone in her effort for the safety of the public and for the welfare of these large animals. I hope we can quickly reconcile the differences between the House and Senate legislation and get this enacted into law this year. This bipartisan bill represents a firm commitment to protect the safety of the American public and the welfare of wild animals that are increasingly kept as pets. Our bill provides a first step in addressing a growing national problem. According to best estimates. there are more than 5.000 tigers in captivity in the United States. There are perhaps more tigers in captivity than there are tigers in their native habitats throughout the range in Asia. I have got a stack of news articles over an inch thick describing instances in almost every State where some exotic pet escaped and was roaming around a suburban neighborhood. There are also more disturbing articles about wellintentioned pet owners whohave run out of money because the feeding of a 200pound tiger is very expensive. Then there are the cases where the animals. which are far from domesticated. harm their owners or others. Owning an exotic cat is not like owning Morris the house cat. These animals are big. they cost a lot to feed. and they are one degree away from their wild instincts at any moment. The Captive Wildlife Safety Act bars the interstate sale or transportation of lions. tigers. leopards. cheetahs and cougars. or their hybrids. in an attempt to exercise some control over the burgeoning interstate commerce of these animals. The legislation would not ban all private ownership of these prohibited species. rather. it would outlaw the commerce of these animals for use as pets. The bill is specifically aimed at the unregulated and untrained individuals who are maintaining these wild animals as exotic pets. Zoos. circuses. and sanctuaries are better equipped with both the physical and financial resources to care for these animals and are not affected by this legislation. At a time when almost anything can be bought on the Internet. it is not surprising that the animals can all be purchased through the more than 1.000 Web sites that promote private ownership of these wild animals. The Captive Wildlife Safety Act represents an emerging consensus on the need for comprehensive Federal legislation to regulate what type of animals can be kept as pets. We simply have got to understand that we have got to do this both for the safety of our neighborhoods which now has occurred both in suburban areas and rural areas and even now in urban areas with the captive keeping of these animals. We have got to do it for the safety of the neighborhoods. and we have got to do it for the welfare of these animals. We cannot let the care of these animals. the welfare of these animals be kept In a haphazard fashion based upon the whims of an individual at any given time simply to grab the ownership of one of these animals only later to find out that they are not trained or capable in other ways to take care of these cats or financially cqnnot take care of them and they either turn them over to the public or they set them loose or these cats escape and cause danger in the neighborhoods. It is not fair to the animals. and it is certainly not in the best interest of our communities. I would hope that we would be able to pass this legislation right away.