Update: Thanks to pressure by animal advocates, zoo officials have moved Diego to a larger enclosure, where he can now feel grass under his paws. They have also moved a lioness in with him, and he seems to be relishing the company of his new friend.

Published May 22, 2012:

Diego, a young lion, has spent most of his life alone in a cement and chain-link cage. Mexico's wildlife protection agency, PROFEPA, seized him during a criminal investigation when Diego was just a few months old. PROFEPA placed Diego in the Zacango Zoo outside Mexico City, where he has languished in a barren cell, alone (lions are by far the most social of the big cats). Telemundo star Pablo Azar has teamed up with PETA to persuade PROFEPA—which has legal custody of Diego—to send the lonely lion to a U.S. sanctuary that is standing by to receive him.

Photographs and video footage provided to PETA depict Diego pacing incessantly in his tiny cage—behavior that is indicative of stress, boredom, and frustration.

In his letter to PROFEPA, Azar implored:

At the sanctuary, Diego could finally enjoy the company of other lions, receive veterinary care, enjoy a vast space in which to roam and explore, and recover from the stress of intensive confinement. 

Urge Mexican officials to transfer Diego to the U.S. sanctuary.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will go far and wide to find more animals to exploit. Feld Entertainment, which owns this wretchedly cruel circus, has applied to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to import eight tigers and one leopard who are currently being used in a circus in Germany. PETA has submitted comments and extensive supporting materials in opposition to this application, including a statement from a renowned tiger expert.

The Endangered Species Act prohibits the importation of endangered species except for "scientific purposes" or to benefit the survival of the species. Hard to make any of that comport with Ringling's desire to haul the big cats around in boxcars and use whips to make them hop on their hind legs.

Federal law also strictly prohibits transporting any endangered species in the course of a "commercial activity," and there is no question that the Ringling Bros. Circus is exactly that. The law further prohibits harming, harassing, and wounding endangered species and requires that they be maintained under humane and healthful conditions. Ringling's well-documented history of animal abuse is clearly grounds to reject its import application, as PETA points out:

• In September 2010, inspectors in Sacramento observed tigers in cages without water, food, or enrichment of any kind.
• During a 2009 PETA undercover investigation, a Ringling trainer was videotaped beating tigers during dress rehearsals.
• According to Ringling's permit application, four tigers have died in the past five years as a result of the circus's activities.
• Since 1991, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Ringling for 27 violations of the Animal Welfare Act with respect to the care of big cats, including for allowing a 2-year-old lion named Clyde to bake to death in a boxcar as the train crossed the Mojave Desert as well as for shooting a caged tiger five times with a shotgun.

Please share this troubling information with all the parents you know and urge them never to buy a ticket to Ringling or any circus using animals.

 
Written by Jennifer O’Connor

The owner of an Iowa roadside zoo called "Cricket Hollow" has suffered wounds to his head and torso after being attacked by a tiger there. Cricket Hollow is no stranger to problems: PETA has previously filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the local sheriff's department about filthy conditions and animals who were denied adequate water and shelter, and the unaccredited facility was recently issued an official warning by the USDA for repeatedly failing to provide animals with veterinary care and even clean, adequate, and safe shelter.

PETA routinely calls on all facilities with big cats, elephants, and orcas to adopt the protected-contact (PC) system, which means there is always a barrier between the animal and the handler. Zoos put animals and handlers at risk in free-contact systems. One recent example is the Knoxville Zoo, which was cited by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration after a keeper was fatally injured by an elephant who had had enough of being “controlled” by a bullhook (the zoo quickly instituted PC for all elephants). 

Cricket Hollow has also placed "free tiger" ads in a swapsheet called Animal Finder's Guide, which peddles exotic animals to dealers and exhibitors. The surge in private ownership of big cats has led to an increasing number of attacks.

Please never patronize a roadside zoo or private menagerie. And if your city or town allows people to keep exotic animals as pets, contact PETA's Action Team to learn how to start a campaign to end this dangerous practice.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Former bear wrestler and longtime PETA foe Sam Mazzola was found dead recently, handcuffed to a waterbed and bound with chains and padlocks. He apparently choked to death on a sex toy that was lodged in his throat and that obstructed his breathing. He was also wearing a leather mask with the eyes and mouth zipped shut and a two-piece metal sphere covering his head.

Mazzola's history of dominating, controlling, and humiliating powerful animals may now make sense.

Prior to the bizarre circumstances of his passing, Mazzola was perhaps best known for the death of Brent Kandra, who died last year after being mauled by one of Mazzola's bears.

But Mazzola—who for years, until PETA got his license pulled, took bears out on the road and charged people to "wrestle" them—had brushes with the law and spent time in prison for trafficking in cocaine. His federal license to exhibit animals was permanently revoked in 2009, and he was fined nearly $14,000 for multiple violations of federal law, including threatening federal agents and falsely claiming that an inspector solicited a bribe. One of the bears he kept caged escaped Mazzola's compound and attacked a neighbor, causing injuries and property damage. Another young man was killed by a bear in the compound last year. PETA had petitioned the local government to close Mazzola's place down, move the animals out, and charge Mazzola with negligent homicide. An investigation was in progress.
 

Furryscaly/cc by 2.0

 
Some animals, including bears, wolves, and big cats, still remain in small barren cages on Mazzola's property, and others have already been transferred to questionable operations. 

Please join PETA in asking the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to seize all the animals over which they have jurisdiction and to see that they are placed in reputable sanctuaries. And please refuse to fund deplorable roadside zoos with your entry fee.
 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor