For Immediate Release:
October 6, 2021
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Columbus, Ohio – Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet regarding the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ announcement that it is denying accreditation to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, in large part because of its record of supplying unaccredited facilities with baby animals for entertainment purposes:
By refusing to endorse facilities that ship big-cat cubs off to Tiger King–style roadside zoos, the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) has once again distinguished itself from disreputable “accrediting” operations such as American Humane and the Zoological Association of America. PETA celebrates this decision for alerting AZA-accredited zoos to keep vulnerable baby animals out of exploitative hands and reminding the public to stay away from businesses that trade tiger cubs like chess pieces.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
