Waccatee Zoo Under Fire as Photo Shows Tiger With Deep, Gaping Wound

PETA Urges Federal Authorities to Hold Roadside Zoo Accountable for Any Welfare Violations and Reminds Families to Avoid the Dangerous Facility

For Immediate Release:
May 24, 2016

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

This morning, PETA sent an urgent letter calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate reports of an injured tiger at Waccatee Zoo—which has a long, documented history of animal neglect—and hold the facility accountable for any violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) it may have committed. In its appeal, PETA includes a photo taken at the zoo on Saturday of a tiger with a deep, open wound and asks the federal agency to send an inspector as soon as possible and give the animal a veterinary evaluation.

“This tiger’s painful and possibly untreated injury is yet another example of the suffering and neglect at Waccatee Zoo that PETA has been documenting for years,” says PETA Foundation Captive Animal Law Enforcement Counsel Rachel Mathews. “It’s up to the authorities to hold this hellhole responsible for any federal violations, and it’s up to kind people to stay far away from this nightmare.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—has sent several recent complaints to the USDA about conditions at Waccatee Zoo, including animals with long-standing injuries, monkeys and bears with hair loss, monkeys who show signs of severe psychological distress, obese animals, and the sudden death of a solitary chimpanzee named Chico.

PETA’s letter to the USDA is available here. For more information, please visit PETA.org.