By Mary Leake Schilder

UPDATE
HB 1151 was amended by the State Senate in late February to become a study bill. Efforts are underway to restore the bill's original language.

A bill that would ban private possession of dangerous, wild and exotic animals, HB 1151, has passed out of the Washington House of Representatives and is scheduled for vote in the Senate during this 2006 legislative session. Groups such as the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (“PAWS”), the Woodland Park Zoo, the Animal Protection Institute (“API”) and others have been advocating for this legislation for years and are optimistic 2006 will be the year of making this law a reality.

Currently, Washington has a patchwork of city and county ordinances with varying degrees of restrictions and bans and is one of 13 states that have no laws regarding the private possession of dangerous, wild and exotic animals. HB 1151 would make it illegal for individuals to possess animals such as tigers, lions, bears, primates, venomous snakes and other animals. Supporters of the bill oppose private possession of these animals because of the cruelty involved in keeping them in unnatural and inadequate environments and the inherent risks to human health and safety.

Just last year, a 5-year-old Napavine boy was attacked by his grandfather’s Siberian tiger cub. Also in 2005, a boy in Minnesota was mauled by a friend’s tiger and lion, leaving the child quadriplegic and dependent on a respirator. Most infamously was the on-stage attack of entertainer Roy Horn, of the famed Siegfried and Roy, a so-called trained, professional animal handler, who was mauled by a tiger he had raised from birth.

Wild animals held captive as pets also often experience extreme suffering as a result of improper habitat and diet and lack of physical and mental stimulation. Those who obtain these oftentimes large, potentially dangerous animals frequently lack any husbandry skills and animal-handling experience, and have only enough money to purchase the animal.

There also is very little federal oversight on keeping exotic animals as pets. The only law directly addressing the issue is the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, which was passed by Congress at the end of 2003 to prohibit the interstate transportation of big cats. A ban in Washington would help strengthen the only current federal law regulating exotic animals.

History and Status
The bill was first introduced to the Washington Legislature in 2001 by PAWS and API. The law, sponsored by Rep. John Lovick (D-44), nearly passed in 2004, but due to a procedural fluke, never made it to the Senate floor.

In 2005, Kentucky and Arkansas passed bills to prohibit certain species of exotic animals in private hands. In addition, numerous other states across the country are also considering this type of legislation.

To make the bill more politically feasible over the course of the last five years, many interested and affected parties have modified HB 1151. The sponsors of the bill have amended it in several ways, including:

• Removing a permitting process that included insurance policies, caging requirements and signage.
• Adding a grandfather clause to allow current owners of prohibited species to keep those animals until they die. The possessor must maintain veterinary records and acquisition papers for the animal or other records establishing that the person possessed the animal prior to the effective date of the law.
• Modifying the list of prohibited species.
• Removing any fiscal impact on cities and counties when adopting an ordinance to implement HB 1151.
• Removing municipal liability if a prohibited animal escaped.
• Changing enforcement provisions in smaller cities without animal control agencies.

HB 1151 also maintains a list of exemptions of institutions authorized by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to possess animals in accordance with RCW ¤ 77.12.047, such as zoos and aquariums, humane societies, shelters, wildlife rehabilitation facilities, animal control authorities, law enforcement agencies, veterinary hospitals or clinics, wildlife sanctuaries, medical institutions, educational institutions, circuses, rodeos and displays of exotics at fairs.

Agencies and Organizations that support the passage of HB 1151:

• PAWS
• API
• The Humane Society of the United States
• The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
• Woodland Park Zoo
• Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium
• The Federation of Animal Care and Control Agencies
• Washington Veterinary Medical Association
• Cat Tales