Lawsuit Threatened Against Those Who Took Animals From Shuttered Oroville Roadside Zoo

For Immediate Release:
October 9, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA is putting the individuals and businesses that transferred or received federally protected animals from the now-defunct Oroville-based Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation on notice that they could soon face an Endangered Species Act lawsuit. Following pressure from PETA over the treatment of animals at Kirshner, California wildlife officials declined to renew the notorious roadside zoo’s Restricted Species Permit in 2025 amid an investigation into suspected neglect and abuse, prompting Kirshner to close and send the animals to other roadside zoos and backyard menageries. Now, in a 60-day notice of intent to sue sent this morning, PETA contends that the recipients of those animals violated the law by transporting or possessing animals who had already suffered illegal abuse and neglect at Kirshner. This notice gives them a chance to voluntarily relinquish the remaining animals so they can be moved to reputable sanctuaries before PETA adds them to its pending lawsuit.

PETA’s pending lawsuit accuses Kirshner and its operators of harming and harassing federally protected animals through inadequate veterinary care and nutrition, poor housing and sanitation, social deprivation, and other mistreatment. Tigers and other big cats suffered from metabolic bone disease, which can cause pain, lameness, muscle loss, and broken bones, while lions were left with untreated wounds and other injuries. PETA is seeking to have the protected animals Kirshner shipped off to other shady operations—including two leopards, one clouded leopard, one cheetah, and one ring-tailed lemur—transferred to reputable facilities, where they can receive the specialized care and enrichment they need.

“These animals have already endured years of neglect and passing them from one seedy operation to another only compounds their suffering,” says PETA Foundation Managing Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler. “PETA is expanding its pending lawsuit to hold accountable everyone responsible for keeping these animals trapped in this cycle and to get the remaining survivors into reputable facilities at last.”

PETA’s notice names the following individuals PETA intends to add as defendants in its pending lawsuit: Hayden Rosenaur of Serengeti Ranch Co LLC; Steve Martin of Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife; Jackie Johnston of Johnston Family Farms Carriages and Trees; Rhea Gardner of Spirit of Animals; Jacob Markow of Wildlife Companions; and Dale Anderson of Project Survival Cat Haven.

Wildlife Companions received five tigers from Kirshner, and PETA contends that Markow denied them adequate housing, environmental enrichment, and veterinary care. In June, Markow contacted the Oakland Zoo for help placing the tigers, and the zoo, with PETA’s assistance, moved four of them to reputable homes—but the fifth tiger arrived at the zoo with end-stage arthritis and spinal disease, making it difficult for her to walk without pain, and she had to be euthanized.

PETA has engaged the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, which has offices in San Francisco, to assist in prosecuting the suit.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—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.