We all know it’s not nice to shoot exotic animals with guns—but is there a problem with cameras? Tigers, leopards, lions, monkeys and other exotic animals do not shop, but they are often dragged to mall after mall to have their pictures taken with children and well-meaning “animal lovers.”

Suffering Behind the Scenes
	Many substandard zoos, phony “sanctuaries,” and backyard menageries cart baby animals around like toys to pose for photographs at shopping centers, fairs, conventions and roadside exhibits. These exhibits target people who claim to love animals and don’t realize the harm in having their picture taken with an exotic animal. But what may be just a few moments of entertainment for them can be a lifetime of misery for the animals.
	Captive exotic animals are often kept in small, dilapidated cages and go insane from the lack of freedom, companionship and exercise. They are deprived of their natural instincts to roam and socialize with other members of their own kind. Many pace neurotically or frantically claw at cage bars. Sadder still are those who have succumbed to relentless boredom and mental illness and show little interest in anything.
	When cute, easy-to-handle baby animals grow too old to draw crowds, they are often sold at auction, where they are bought for use in roadside zoos, circuses, breeding mills or canned hunts (to be shot at point-blank range) or even by slaughterhouses for the “exotic” meat market.
Cruelty Behind the Camera
	Charlotte Metro Zoo in Rockwell, North Carolina, is typical of hundreds of privately owned backyard menageries across the country that masquerade as rescue or conservation centers. No legitmate sanctuary breeds animals, yet Charlotte Metro Zoo has produced more than 100 baby animals, selling some to area residents. They also prematurely remove infant animals from their mothers for commercial purposes. (Protective mothers often must be tranquilized to prevent them from fighting the theft of their babies.) A 4-week-old patas monkey was taken away from her mother so that the zoo could charge $5 to pose for photos with the infant, although baby monkeys can easily contract illnesses from humans and vice versa.

A few fleeting moments of entertainment for children can be a lifetime of misery for the animals.

While the name may imply that Charlotte Metro Zoo is a municipal zoo, it is nothing more than a personal “collection” of exotic “pets.” Owner Steve Macaluso has failed to meet even the minimal federal standards of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act (AWA) for the care of exhibited animals. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited his “zoo” numerous times for failure to provide big cats with a proper diet, failure to maintain and clean enclosures, and failure to provide animals with shelter from the elements. In December 2000, the USDA questioned Macaluso about drugging the animals used in the shoots.

A Dangerous Affair

Often, frustrated captive animals lash out at their “jailers” and attempt to escape when they get a chance. A chimpanzee at Charlotte Metro Zoo pried back a steel bar on his cage and roamed freely for a week before he was captured and returned to his tiny cell. Two lions, who had been used as entertainment at Renaissance festivals, mauled a man cleaning their cage. In October 2000, a 4-month-old leopard and a 5-month-old tiger got away when Macaluso lost control of his car and crashed on his way back from a photo shoot. Since 1990, big cats, bears and primates have killed at least 13 people and injured more than 220 individuals in numerous attacks at photo shoots, circuses, zoos, roadside exhibits and breeding facilities around the country. A 4-year-old boy in Channelview, Texas, recently had part of his arm torn off by a tiger his aunt and uncle kept as a “pet.”

You Can Help-Be a photo-op cop

• Many cities have banned traveling animal acts and many malls and other venues have canceled photo shoots with animals. If your local shopping center or any other venue is sponsoring one, provide the management with PETA’s information about animal exhibits and ask that the event be canceled. If the event isn’t canceled, urge people not to patronize it, and write a letter to the editor of your paper informing people as to why photo shoots are no fun for animals. Keep the pressure on. • Visit WildlifePimps.com for more ways that you can help exotic animals used in photo shoots, petting zoos and roadside exhibits.