BIG-CAT BILL AWAITS VOTE IN U.S. HOUSE.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer With the U.S. Senate's passage of a bill prohibiting interstate sales of tigers and other big cats as pets, backers including actress and animal rights activist Tippi Hedren Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930)[1] is an American actress with a career spanning six decades. She is best known for her role as Melanie Daniels in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds are looking to the House to approve the new restrictions. U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, is carrying the bill in the lower chamber at the urging of several humanitarian groups including Hedren's ROAR Foundation, which runs the Shambala sanctuary in Acton. The Captive Wildlife Safety Act won the Senate's unanimous approval last week, spurred in part by the attack on Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. illusionist Roy Horn by a rare white tiger White tigers are individual specimens of the ordinary orange tiger (Panthera tigris), with a genetic condition that causes paler colouration of the normally orange fur (they still have black stripes). , said Wayne Pacelle Wayne Pacelle (born 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal organization. Pacelle took office June 1, 2004 after serving for nearly 10 years as the organization's chief lobbyist and , senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a Washington, D.C-based animal welfare advocacy group. It is the largest animal welfare organization in the world, with nearly 10 million members and a 2006 budget of US$103 million. . ``It was moving along pretty well before that occurred,'' Pacelle said Monday. ``But what I think it did was simply confirm for any legislator that interacting with big cats is a very dangerous exercise.'' The legislation exempts animal programs licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture including ``Siegfried & Roy'' and Hedren's junglelike Shambala, home to 60 lions, tigers, cougars, leopards and cheetahs. The version of the bill authored by McKeon and Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, is nearly identical to the Senate's and awaits a hearing on the House floor. Humanitarian groups back the restrictions, with opposition coming from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, which says it doesn't have the resources to enforce new laws. Also opposed are numerous owners of big cats, Pacelle said. It is estimated that in the United States 10,000 to 15,000 exotic cats are kept as pets. The issue made headlines last month with the discovery of a 425-pound Siberian-Bengal tiger in a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of apartment. The owner was charged with reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of a wild animal. The Humane Society's Rachel Querry said backers are hoping the Senate's resounding re·sound v. re·sound·ed, re·sound·ing, re·sounds v.intr. 1. To be filled with sound; reverberate: The schoolyard resounded with the laughter of children. 2. approval will trigger a House vote. Patricia Farrell Aidem, (661) 257-5251 pat.aidem(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color in SAC edition only) A cheetah cheetah (chē`tə), carnivore of the cat family, Acinonyx jubatus, native to Africa S of the Sahara and SW Asia as far east as India. named Subira licks the hand of visiting animal-rights activist Tippi Hedren, founder of the Shambala sanctuary for abandoned or abused exotic animals in Acton. David R. Crane/Staff Photographer |
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