Where can I pet a lion in 2018?

In today’s world, where common sense and the overwhelming public sentiment tells us that paying to pet a lion, or pet a tiger, or pet a lion cub, or pet a tiger cub are all despicable acts of cruelty against nature, why are people still trying to find those experiences?  When there are literally tens of millions of pages of websites, mostly talking about the evils of taking cubs from their moms so people can pay to pet and bottle feed them, why are people still doing it?

NOTE: The above photo is NOT at Big Cat Rescue.

Are you as astounded as I am about these numbers?

Where can I pet a lion?

This search on Google brings up 111,000,000  competing pages on the topic in 2018.  Not counting ads about where to pet lions, the top result is a TripAdvisor review about petting lion cubs at McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary and going on about how they are not a zoo, but rather a sanctuary.  Obviously the person posting the review has no idea that sanctuaries DO NOT BREED more wild cats for life in prison.  True sanctuaries don’t allow contact with their big cats either and don’t post those kinds of images of people petting big cats because that’s what is driving all of this abuse.

The good news is that a service called Keywords Everywhere reports there are “only” 170 searches for that “Where can I pet a lion?” each month, but that many ill informed or cruel people are 170 too many.  Keywords Everywhere also reports there are only about 3 companies advertising for this search term each month.  In case you are wondering how that compares to the public’s interest in lions, Keywords Everywhere reports there are 1.8 million people per month searching the term “lion”.

Where can I pet a tiger?

The second most popular is the term: Where can I pet a tiger?  This google search in December 2018 resulted in 92 million pages competing for that phrase.  It’s troubling that a place called Dade City’s Wild Things comes up in an ad because that either tells me that advertising is lucrative for them, or that Google is granting them $15,000 a month in ads based on them being a non profit, even though they are in a lot of hot water for their fundraising practices and have been ordered by the USDA to stop some of their most egregious lion and tiger cub contact schemes.  Would Google give free ads to do something so mean to cubs, if they knew what was going on?

The good news is that a service called Keywords Everywhere reports there are “only” 40 searches for “Where can I pet a tiger?” but again, that many ill informed or cruel people are 40 too many.

Keywords Everywhere also reports there are only about 5 companies advertising for this search term each month.  In case you are wondering how that compares to the public’s interest in tigers, Keywords Everywhere reports there are 2,240,000 people per month searching the term “tiger”.

Also on the front page of Google for the search phrase: “Pet a tiger” is Kevin (he calls himself doc, but he’s no doctor as far as we can tell) Antle in another TripAdvisor review about his storefront cub petting operation in Myrtle Beach, SC.  In November of 2017 TripAdvisor said it would identify and remove some tours and attractions that use wild animals from its sites.  TripAdvisor announced it would no longer sell tickets and activities where wild animals are forced to come into contact with the public, including elephant rides, tiger encounters and swimming with dolphins.  I think they would be horrified to know that someone’s review on their site was still sending people to pet cubs.

Pet a cub

The third most popular is the term: Pet a cub coming in a 39.4 million pages competing for that phrase.  Thankfully the top four results for the term “pet a cub” are 2 from Big Cat Rescue and two from sanctuaries who concur that cub petting is cruel.   I think we may be getting some traction on this search phrase because, according to Keywords Everywhere, there are ZERO searches for this term each month that they are seeing and no one advertising for this term.

 

Pet Cubs

The fourth most popular is the term: Pet cubs coming in a 27.8 million pages competing for that phrase.  Thankfully the top four results for the term “pet a cub” are 3 from Big Cat Rescue and one from Wildcat Sanctuary who concurs that cub petting is a bad thing to do.   According to Keywords Everywhere, there are 50 searches for this term each month and 6-7 companies paying for Google ads on this term each month.

 

Where can I pet a lion cub?

The fifth most popular is the term: Where can I pet a lion cub? coming in a 15.3 million pages competing for that phrase.  Sadly, several of the results for the term “Where can I pet a lion cub?” are from some of the most prolific breeders and users of lion cubs, including Dade City’s Wild Things, McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary and the Zoological Wildlife Foundation.   Anyone doing even the most simple search of ZWF should be able to find the history of wildlife and drug trafficking to let them know what kind of outfit that has been. And yet, just a year or so ago, their ticketing agent told me they sell half a million dollars a year in pay to play opportunities with cubs.

According to Keywords Everywhere, there are 20 searches for the term “where can I pet a lion cub” each month and 5 companies paying for Google ads on this term monthly.

 

Where can I pet a tiger cub?

The sixth most popular is the search term: Where can I pet a tiger cub?  This google search in late 2018 resulted in 12.9 million pages competing for that phrase.  Again, I found it disturbing that Dade City’s Wild Things comes up in an ad because that either indicates that advertising is working for them, or that Google is granting them $15,000 a month in free ads based on them being a non profit, even though Dade City’s Wild Things is in a lot of trouble for their fundraising practices and have been ordered by the USDA to stop some of their most egregious lion and tiger cub contact schemes.  Would Google give free ads to do something so awful to cubs, if they knew what was going on?

The great news is that a service called Keywords Everywhere reports there are usually ZERO searches for that phrase each month and almost never anyone paying for ads using the words “Where can I pet a tiger cub?”

I think cub petting is on the decline, but will it be in time to save the tiger?

Consider the following points and let me know what you think and what you think can be done in addition to taking action at the link below.

1.  People love to see tiger cubs but they could disappear in the wild in the next 5 years

2.  In the 90s there were 100,000 tigers in the wild, but now there are less than 4,000

3.  Tigers are going extinct because people want to see them up close

4.  They see them being handled on talk shows

5.  So they pay to see and pet them

6.  They don’t know that the only way to do that is:

a.  Rip from moms before their eyes open at just a few hours or days

b.  Can only use for about 12 weeks before they can take off a child’s finger

c.  Speed breed mom tigers to make more cubs

d. No one wants the cubs who are now too big for photo ops

e. They end up in canned hunts, back yards, basements or just disappear (conservatively about 200 cubs per year just disappear)

7. Legitimate sanctuaries and zoos don’t allow this.  There are just a handful of roadside zoos that do it

8. Tax dollars are wasted trying to enforce laws to protect the cubs, but it’s too costly and too difficult to track, so there is almost no enforcement

9. The private possession creates a legal smokescreen for illegal activities, like poaching

10. Caught with a tiger tooth? Poachers just say it’s their pet tiger and there is no penalty

11. If you want a world where tigers live free we have to end the private possession of them as pets, props and parts

The solution?

Take action at CatLaws.com to end cub handling and the private possession of big cats.