From my favorite #animal sanctuary.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA) is under attack from a dangerous new bill introduced in Congress – and we urgently need your help to save this landmark protection for big cats.
Together with other sanctuaries and animal protection organizations, PAWS actively worked to help pass the BCPSA, signed into law in 2022, that shut down cruel cub petting operations and ended the private ownership of big cats.
The misleadingly named “Protecting Local Zoos Act of 2026” would open the door to:
Cruel cub petting encounters
Import and export of big cats from foreign entities
Sales of big cats by “exotic animal dealers"
H.R. 7159 does nothing for “local” zoos. Instead, the bill rewards wildlife profiteers, while sacrificing big cat welfare and public safety.
Take urgent action:
1. Call and/or send an email to your federal representative and urge them to oppose H.R. 7159. (See sample message below.) You can find your U.S. representative at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative. Their home page should provide a phone number and link for sending your message.
Please contact your representative by Wednesday, February 4, when this bill will be heard in the Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee.
2. Share this alert with family, friends, and coworkers and ask them to join you in taking action. Share on social media.
3. California advocates: If Tom McClintock is your representative, it is especially important that you contact him, as he sits on the subcommittee hearing the bill. Call 202-225-2511; send your email here.
Thank you for standing up for big cats!
Sample message to copy and paste (please personalize as much as possible):
Re: Oppose H.R. 7159
I am your constituent and I care deeply about the welfare of captive big cats. I urge you to oppose H.R. 7159, misleadingly titled the “Protecting Local Zoos Act of 2026.”
This bill threatens to weaken the strongly bipartisan Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA) passed in 2022 – a commonsense law that protects public safety while preventing the cruelty inherent in the big cat pet trade and “cub petting” industry.
H.R. 7159 does nothing to protect local zoos. The only limitation the BCPSA currently imposes on zoos is prohibiting direct public contact with big cats, a restriction that has not impacted standard zoo operations. Instead, H.R. 7159 would open the door to animal exploiters, allowing them to resume cruel cub petting encounters, import or export big cats from foreign entities, and sell big cats as “exotic animal dealers.”
The Big Cat Public Safety Act has already delivered results: reducing the threat of dangerous encounters involving privately owned big cats - protecting the public, law enforcement and first responders - and serving as a barrier to wildlife trafficking at our borders.
H.R. 7159 is an irresponsible rollback that would put public safety, animal welfare, and years of progress at risk. I strongly urge you to oppose this bill.
Sincerely,
[Insert name, city]