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After PETA sent our petition for rulemaking to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2022, calling on it to adopt new regulations for large carnivores, including a requirement for environmental enrichment, the agency has published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) and is soliciting public comments on certain updates to rules regarding contact, handling, and housing requirements of captive wild animals. The ANPR is, in part, a response to our petition, and we’re committed to contributing information to help guide the agency’s changes through this public comment period.

The amount of harm uncovered at roadside zoos in recent years—including the deaths of five sugar gliders in a pipe at the despicable SeaQuest Fort Worth and the conditions at the “fetid and dystopic” Tri-State Zoo that led to the rescue of 78 animals—shows the pressing need for more regulation before exhibitors receive licenses to keep and show sentient beings.

Making Contact Requirements Clear

One change proposed in the ANPR would clarify the requirements for exhibitors to demonstrate “adequate experience and knowledge” of the species being maintained and to maintain “sufficient distance and/or barriers between the animal and the general viewing public.”

It’s extremely important that these proposed changes be implemented, because of the sheer number of citations that the USDA issues to roadside zoos for animal and human injuries involving USDA-regulated species. Additionally, animals—such as the bear cubs at Yellowstone Bear World and Oswald’s Bear Ranch—are tormented by despicable exhibitors during dangerous public handling events.

Our 2022 petition specifically called on the USDA to publish targeted regulations for the care, handling, and transportation of big cats, bears, wolves, wolf-dog hybrids, and hyenas.

Requiring Stimulating Enclosures

Another proposal would require programs of environmental enrichment for all USDA-regulated animals in the custody of an exhibitor, which could help alleviate boredom and psychological distress for animals who are subject to extreme distress without stimulation or a semi-natural habitat.

PETA Will Stay Involved

In the coming months, PETA’s legal, animal welfare, and veterinary experts will be preparing comments urging the USDA to adopt strict requirements for federal Animal Welfare Act licensees to prove that they have sufficient experience and knowledge of the species they are responsible for, to prohibit public contact with all USDA-regulated wild animals, and to establish stringent requirements for meaningful, daily environmental enrichment for animals.

We will also offer detailed guidelines to PETA members and supporters so they can submit their own comments to the USDA on these critically important proposals. The ANPR is now open for public comment, with comments due on March 10.

Speak Up for Animals Today

In the meantime, please take the opportunity to speak out against the tourist trap animal exhibitors and shoddy roadside zoos around the country, which cause animals to continue to suffer.

Dame Vivienne Westwood famously defined the fashion aesthetic of London’s punk movement in the 1970s—think safety pins, studs, and tartan—and helped to create the Sex Pistols’ iconic look. But long after punk’s heyday, the edgy British designer continued to push fashion forward. In 2007, before vegan couture had become mainstream, Westwood banned fur from her lines after meeting with representatives of PETA U.K. and learning about the suffering that animals endure before they’re used for fur coats, collars, and cuffs. The last of Westwood’s fur items were eight rabbit fur handbags, which her company allowed PETA U.K. to donate to a wildlife sanctuary to be used to for orphaned baby animals to snuggle up to.

Westwood’s fur ban went hand in hand with her commitment to environmental issues and her call for true sustainability in the fashion industry. Most animals killed for fur today are raised on factory farms, which produce tens of thousands of tons of waste every year, and fur garments are treated with a stew of toxic chemicals to keep them from decomposing—making fur neither kind nor sustainable.

Westwood’s innovative, animal-friendly accessories—such as the skin-free Derby Bag and Jungle Crocodile Bag—also scored multiple wins in PETA U.K.’s annual Vegan Fashion Awards.

Several years after stripping fur from her collections, Dame Vivienne stripped down to a shower cap for a provocative PETA video about the meat industry’s depletion of world water supplies. “I am an eco-warrior, but I take long showers with a clean conscience because I’m vegetarian,” she said in the spot, which launched in 2014. As a piece in The New York Times pointed out at the time, it takes 4 million gallons of water to produce 1 ton of beef but just 85,000 gallons to produce a ton of vegetables. “By avoiding meat, you do more for the environment than recycling or driving a hybrid car,” Westwood said.

Speaking out against disposable “fast fashion,” Westwood once urged consumers, “[I]nvest in the world. Don’t invest in fashion, but invest in the world.” Her quintessential, animal-friendly clothing and accessories prove that we can do both.

The end of another big year for animals is here: Among our accomplishments in 2022 are the transfer of 4,000 dogs, who were imprisoned at the beagle-breeding hellhole Envigo, into safe and loving homes, and the debut of our new virtual reality experience, “Abduction,” to college campuses around the U.S. 2023 will start off on the right foot with the California fur ban, which goes into effect on January 1, and PETA will make sure the year keeps going strong.

2022 brought a lot of changes, and we’re here to mark them with our annual tradition. PETA’s list of what’s “in” and what’s “out” in 2023 will make sure you know what’s up:

You’ve Got 2023 in the Bag!

You’re going to crush it for animals this year. In 2023, be sure to buy from cruelty-free businesses, eat vegan, wear vegan, refuse to support establishments that exploit animals for entertainment, and spread the animal-friendly spirit by encouraging others to do so as well. To start the year off right, order our free vegan starter kit now!