Wildlife Chapter 3AppendixFall 2011
Dog and Cat Fur Protection Act of 2000
Video
HSUS Undercover Investigation
With a rough estimate of 5,000 tigers in captivity, the United States likely ranks second behind China as the country with the single largest tiger population. Although the
United States has no large scale,
commercial captive breeding operations, all of
the tigers in the U.S. are held in captivity.
Unfortunately, U.S. laws and regulations governing the keeping of these tigers are not adequate to foreclose the possibility that parts or derivatives from these animals could enter illegal trade.
Captive Tigers
The United States has a strong
legal framework at the federal level governing international trade in tigers or their parts through the Endangered Species Act, the Lacey Act, and the Criminal Code.
The Rhino and Tiger Conservation Act, as amended
in 1998,further prohibits any domestic sale of tiger parts, as well as the sale of any products labeled or advertised to contain tiger parts.
Captive Tigers
Through the Animal Welfare Act, the Captive Wildlife Safety Act,
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) registration and permit system
for captive-bred wildlife, the United
States also has a federal legal
framework governing the interstate
movement of captive tigers; rules for the sale, trade, or
exhibition of live tigers; and conditions
for their confinement.
Caged Tigers
All of these laws and regulations, however, have exceptions or
exemptions that mean, in practical terms, that the majority of private owners of tigers in the United States need only to keep records of tigers held. While such records must be made available upon request, federal agencies charged
with implementing these laws and
regulations do not have a mandate to maintain a current inventory of how many tigers may be in the country, where they
are, who possesses them, when they die,
or how they are disposed of.
Captive Tigers
At the state level, laws and regulations governing the keeping of tigers in private possession vary
widely: • 28 states have laws banning the possession of tigers in private collections; • 17 states allow for the keeping
of tigers by individuals but require a state permit or registration (Iowa, Oregon, and Washington have recently instituted bans on private possession of tigers, but also have systems in place to regulate the tigers that were grandfathered in prior to enactment of those bans.); and • 8 states have no laws on the subject.
Captive Tigers
The facts on fur labeling
Congress enacted the Fur Products Labeling Act in 1951 in response to rampant false advertising and false labeling of animal fur garments.
The Fur Products Labeling Act requires that animal fur products be labeled with the name of the species used, the manufacturer, country of origin, and other information and prohibits the sale and advertising of fur products that have been falsely or deceptively advertised.
Violations of the Fur Products Labeling Act carry up to a $5,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
The Federal Trade Commission is tasked with enforcing the Fur Products Labeling Act and protecting consumers from deception.
Fur
2010- Congress passed and President Obama signed the Truth in Fur Labeling Act to strengthen the Fur Products Labeling Act and close a loophole that previously allowed some fur trimmed garments to be sold without labels (IF VALUED AT $150 OR LESS). The new law will help prevent false advertising by requiring
retailers to affix clear labels to the garments themselves.
Truth in Fur Labeling Act
HSUS Files False Advertising Suit Against Retailers for Deceptive Labeling Practices
November 2011
HSUS Fur Free Action Guide
What Can You Do?
Captive hunts, also known as “canned hunts,” are the very opposite of fair chase. Shooters at captive hunts pay to kill animals—even endangered species
—trapped behind fences.
Canned Hunts
A bill that would have banned canned hunts in New York was passed by the state legislature but was vetoed by then Gov. George Pataki in 2003. Several subsequent attempts to ban canned hunts in New York have also failed including a bill this past session,
Assembly Bill 6788 This bill would have amended the current law and make it illegal to hunt big game non-native animals that are "in a fenced or other area" from where there is no means of escape. It would eliminate canned hunts of big game non-native
mammals in New York state.
New York
New York - Canned hunts of mammals are legal except that "big game non-native animals" cannot be tied, hobbled, staked or attached to a stationary object or "confined in a box, pen, cage or similar container of 10 or less contiguous acres from which there is no means for such mammal to escape". The animal also cannot be released in front of the person who will be shooting or spearing it. N.Y. Envt. Con. Laws §11-1904(1)(A)(1)-(3).
New York - Legal