What is the Small Exotic Cat Crisis? For the past decade, sanctuaries and animal advocates lobbied hard to pass federal legislation preventing the private ownership and breeding of big cats.
Finally, the Big Cat Public Safety Act was approved by Congress in 2022. It prohibits the private possession of lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars, or any hybrid of these species. This law also restricts direct contact between the public and big cats.
But what about smaller wild cats like servals, bobcats, lynx, fishing cats, Asian leopard cats and hybrids of the smaller species? We’re also facing a Small Exotic Cat Crisis, too.
Just by monitoring the number of headlines about escaped exotic “pets,” we can see how there’s been an explosion of private ownership and breeding of these dangerous smaller wild cats, too.
Rarely a week goes by without another small wild cat on the loose. The reality is, we’re facing a SMALL EXOTIC CAT CRISIS that also needs to be addressed with legislation and education.
The plight of privately-owned, small wildcats
Whether it’s servals, caracals, bobcats, lynx, fishing cats, Asian leopard cats or hybrids, owners seem to
think that, because the cat is small, it can indeed be a “pet.” And breeders, who sell these cats for thousands of dollars, are happy to profit off the growing desire for these cats.
Social Media channels, like TikTok, fuel the Small Exotic Cat Crisis by featuring videos of people with their so-called serval and bobcat pets. The sad reality is most cats featured are young or adolescents. After 25 years rescuing wild cats, we know it’s rare for owners to keep their pets past the age of two or three, when the cats reach sexual maturity.
Providing proper care and a suitable environment for these wild cats is far more than most owners were bargaining for. The cats’ lack of proper care and nutrition results in lifelong health issues. Too often, we see these animals put in harm’s way after they escape the owner’s home and try to survive on their own.
Misleading Authorities
Authorities in most jurisdictions have never had to deal with exotic cats. And they shouldn’t have to, it isn’t something they’re trained in.
Navigating the patchwork of laws and ordinances regarding smaller exotic cats is even more challenging for them than it was for big cats.
On top of that, owners are misleading authorities. They try to get their wild cats back by claiming their cat is a domestic cat hybrid and not subject to existing regulations.
Though the cat they owned is an African serval, they often lie to authorities saying it’s a Savannah cat (a cross between a domestic cat and an African serval).
Just like The Wildcat Sanctuary, other sanctuaries throughout the country are being flooded with serval “pets” that didn’t work out.
Not only are private owners lying that their 100% wildcat serval is a hybrid, but they’re also doing the same with bobcats. They claim they’re pixie-bobs.
This misinformation puts even more people at risk, including veterinarians, the public and visitors they bring into their home.
Even when the cat is identified as a 100% wildcat, authorities may defer to the exotic animal owner’s claims since legal authority in this area can be cloudy.
It’s understandable how authorities can easily be misled about wild exotic wild cats vs hybrids. That’s why The Wildcat Sanctuary has created a “Wild cat Hybrid ID Sheet Horizontal” to help clear up a lot of confusion.
Hybrid Resources
- Need Help with Hybrid Cat?
- Wild cat Hybrid ID Sheet
- Realities of Hybrid Ownership Printable Pamphlet
What We Do
Each time the sanctuary learns about these incidents in the news, we contact local authorities to help educate them about why these cats need to be in sanctuaries.
Most are happy to work with us, but their hands are often legally tied. They can urge the owner to surrender the cat, but can’t force that.
When owners are given the option of relocating the cats, we sometimes see the cats relocated to those who quietly return them to owners, once the publicity has died down. Or owners relocate to an area with no exotic cat regulations at all. Once again, it’s the cats who suffer.
Over the years, The Wildcat Sanctuary has made presentations to the annual conference of the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association to help educate first responders about exotic cats. The sanctuary has also helped draft statewide legislation.
Several times a month, we’re contacted to identify a loose or captured cat that authorities believe to be wild, but the owner claims it’s a domestic hybrid. We confirm that the cat is a 100% wildcat, but then often don’t know how the case ended.
The more we can help educate, the more cats can be saved. We know change starts on the local level. Thank you helping educate about appropriate pets by sharing posts, writing letters to editors and helping educate locally. It’s simple to share this link – www.smallcatcrisis.org
Wildcats should never be kept as pets, no matter the size.
You can watch our Executive Director’s full presentation on the Small Cat Crisis below:
