In a victory for animal welfare, the General Assembly of Virginia has passed a new law banning public contact with captive wild animals, including lions, tigers, bears and monkeys.
Signed into law on April 2 by Gov. Ralph Northam, Senate Bill 1030 makes it illegal for any animal “keeper” to provide or offer direct contact with a “dangerous captive animal” to any member of the public, whether in exchange for payment or not.
In effect, the new legislation will prevent people in Virginia from “petting” these captive animals or posing for photos at cruel roadside zoos and tourist attractions, helping to bring an end to the suffering of innocent animals carelessly used for human amusement.
The bill was passed before the airing of Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, which offers a glimpse into the big cat industry’s greed and exploitation. It will come into effect on July 1, 2021. Anyone violating the law will be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $500.
The Commonwealth already has a ban on the private ownership of big cats, but shockingly, there are thousands still being kept as “pets” in the United States. To help save these lions, tigers and other wild felines from unnecessary suffering, please sign LFT’s petition urging House and Senate leaders to pass The Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA).
SIGN: Save Tigers and Lions from Miserable Captivity As ‘Pets’
What’s New…
Hello,
This is Meladia and I am a licensed photographer.
I was surprised, putting it lightly, when I recognised my images at your website. If you use a copyrighted image without an owner’s consent, you must know that you could be sued by the copyright holder.
It’s unlawful to use stolen images and it’s so low!
Take a look at this document with the links to my images you used at ladyfreethinker.org and my earlier publications to obtain the evidence of my copyrights.
Download it now and check this out for yourself:
https://sites.google.com/view/40985749095843/drive/folders/storage/shared/download?d=082064432793347764
If you don’t remove the images mentioned in the file above within the next few days, I’ll file a complaint on you to your hosting provider letting them know that my copyrights have been severely infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property.
And if it doesn’t work, you may be pretty damn sure I am going to take legal action against you! And I will not bother myself to let you know of it in advance.
This is a no-brained!
Thank you, good news.
Thank goodness that sanity has prevailed in Virginia in this regard. A long way to go, however, in terms of animal protection in Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S.
Stop all brutality of innocent animals
The animals should be released to sanctuaries.
wonderful news Virginia!!!!
Please treat animals with kindness & respect.
They feel fear, pain & happiness just like we do.
Bravo Virginia!
Wouldn’t it be easier to just let them go back to the wild (where they should be anyway) ???
I want protection for animals I want freedom for them I want this to stop they deserve to have a proper life and healthy one
Thank you so much…GOD BLESS YOU
Millions if animals are suffering all over the world. People who care like myself are against animal cruelty and want to see changes made against animals suffering.
Oh sure, July 1 2021! Why don’t you make owning wildlife a crime?
moche
Millions if animals are suffering all over the world. People who care like myself are against animal cruelty and want to see changes made against animals suffering.
keep wild animals wild & let them live as nature intended. There must be no more sport killing of these wild animals…human greed!
Bravo!! But why July 2021? Why not now?
Yes!
Good. Anything to keep animals safe.
Too much sadness in this world.
Thank you all for caring about life.
Almost all life is important. Animals and kind people. The mean people can just go away.
Excellent news! One more step forward.
Well, though seemingly encouraging, this is still going to take over a year to become law, and it’s a very small misdemeanor in a teeny tiny fine I would say for most people to take the risk for big black market money. Also what happens to all these animals in captivity when The captors feel they can no longer sustain feeding and caring for them because they can’t get money from stupid humans to take pictures with them or pet them. They will probably be sent to safari ranches for canned hunts by trophy hunters. Sick! No one thinks of that. In the only reason Virginia is doing this is because of the Covid scare and trying to minimize animal and human contact. They are not doing it for animal welfare. It’s only a CYA maneuver.
good news now lets see all the other states fall in line
making it illegal to own wild animals is the next big step’
Great ! Much safer for both humans, and animals, all the way around !
It’s encouraging to see the people are getting the picture,about animal rights, and human rights, together !