2015-08-13 Carole Baskin‘s Diary

Carole Baskins Diary

BIG CAT PUBLIC SAFETY ACT RE-INTRODUCED – NEED YOUR HELP!

Congress operates in two year sessions. At the end of each session, any bills that did not get signed into law “die” and have to be re-introduced in the next session. Once a bill is introduced, legislators can “co-sponsor” the bill by calling the legislator who introduced it. The co-sponsor names are published online. Being a co-sponsor shows support and basically means you are going to vote for the bill if it comes to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote.

We are part of a coalition of animal welfare groups that in February 2012 introduced a federal bill to ban private breeding and ownership of big cats with limited exemptions. The bill would put an end to the rampant breeding of cubs for petting and tens of thousands of big cats living in miserable conditions in back yards and roadside zoos like those pictured here. INSERT A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE HOW BIG CATS LIVE DOCUMENT

In the ten months we had left in the 2011-12 session we got up to 60 cosponsors in the House, which was great. We re-introduced the bill in 2013 and by the end of the 2013-14 session we were up to 119 cosponsors out of the 435 members of the House, more than 25%!

At the end of 2014 our primary Republican sponsor retired. So in 2015 we have been working on finding a suitable new main Republican sponsor to join our Democratic main sponsor Loretta Sanchez of California. At this writing we have a great new Republican main sponsor in the House who has not yet been announced and we are working on lining up what are called “initial cosponsors” whose names are submitted at the same time the bill is “dropped” or “introduced.” In the Senate, our past champion Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut will be re-introducing the bill.

By the time you read this, or shortly after, we expect the bill to have been introduced and have bill numbers in both the House and Senate. Then, what we need is your help in urging your Representatives in the House and your Senators to co-sponsor the bill.

When you get this, please check the status of the bill at www.StopBigCatAbuse.com. If it has been introduced, right there you can send an email to your legislators urging them to co-sponsor. You CAN play a meaningful role in stopping the abuse by helping pass this bill – but it is critical that your legislators know you care!

In addition to sending the email, even more effective is to also make a phone call to the legislator’s office staff person who handles animal welfare issues. For a sheet of simple tips for making a very brief, simple call, email Howard Baskin. Thanks! Written by Howard Baskin for the Fall Big Cat Times.

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.

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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.