Ill. lawmaker concerned about lion meat

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., March 10 (UPI) -- An Illinois lawmaker is trying to ban the sale of lion meat in his state, which he says is sold in at least two places statewide.

Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, has proposed legislation to ban the sale and slaughter of lion meat in the state of Illinois, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

"There are people that have them and raise them, but you're going to raise them and eat them?" Arroyo said, "It's just inhumane. Those are zoo animals. Then you talk about eating elephants, eating all kinds of zoo animals. There's other meats we can eat besides the lions."

Arroyo said he knew of at least two places in the state that lion meat was available for purchase.

Under his legislation, anyone caught selling lion meat for human consumption could be sentenced to up to one year or fined up to $25,000.

The state House of Representatives will review the bill during the spring legislative session.