Captive Primate Safety Act
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CNN reports:
The House overwhelmingly voted in favor of passing the Captive Primate Safety Act on Tuesday, which prohibits people from buying or transporting primates across state lines to keep as pets. This legislation amended the Lacey Act, which had only applied to wildlife and fish.
The Humane Society of the United States applauded the bill, which passed by a vote of 323 to 95.
“There is no reason for any private citizen to keep a primate as a pet, and this trade is driven by unscrupulous dealers who sell primates across state lines for thousands of dollars,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the HSUS.
I think this is probably a good piece of law. But I haven’t read the exact verbiage yet, so I’m not exactly sure what to think about it. Anyone read it?
It exempts zoos and other such ‘proper’ primate husbandry industries, which is unfortunate. It seems to be premised on the belief that the ‘pet’ primate industry is fueled by ignorance and greed; however, beyond my understanding, zoos and traders, for example, are believed to be doing what they do for laudable reasons.
~ Recent blog post: A choice/need problem and hunting ~
I think this is it:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:2:./temp/~c111PRKevf::
So far…
I was worried that it might not have an exclusion for sanctuaries, but it looks like they’ve got that covered.
However, the momentum on this bill is fostered by the tragic event in Connecticut involving a pet chimp who was killed by police after he injured a child. That is, the urge to pass this bill comes more from a fear/hatred of nonhuman animals (aka misozoony or misothery) and less from the desire to protect wildlife or primates. That’s a shame and might result in some language in the law that’s anti-animal.
Sorry, here’s the bill:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h80eh.txt.pdf
scroll down to read