PETA Statement re West Coast Game Park Safari Owner Pleads Guilty to 47 Charges

For Immediate Release:
April 20, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Today, Brian Tenney—owner of the now-shuttered Bandon roadside zoo West Coast Game Park Safari—pled guilty to 47 criminal charges, 43 of which were for neglecting the animals he held captive at the operation. The charges stem from PETA’s persistent complaints to Oregon State Police and evidence PETA provided of criminal animal neglect. Please see the following statement from PETA Foundation Managing Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler:

After years of starving and neglecting animals and imprisoning them in filthy, decrepit enclosures, including condemning a highly social chimpanzee to solitary confinement, Brian Tenney may now get a taste of what it feels like to be stripped of his freedom, locked in a cage, and deprived of everything meaningful to him. PETA is grateful to the Oregon State Police for investigating Tenney’s crimes and urges the court to impose the maximum penalty at his July 20 sentencing.

After executing multiple search warrants at the roadside zoo in May, law enforcement officials confiscated 322 animals, including George the chimpanzee, who is now thriving in the company of other members of his species at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.