For Immediate Release:
February 21, 2021
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Butte County, Calif. – Today, a volunteer at the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation had to be hospitalized as the result of injuries inflicted by a leopard in the animal’s enclosure. Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Debbie Metzler:
“This disaster shows exactly why no reputable animal-care facility would ever let its volunteers enter an enclosure with a big cat. PETA hopes the public will now see this so-called “wildlife foundation” for the sham sanctuary that it is—an outfit with a history of Tiger King–style cub petting, a previous penalty for endangering the public, and a volunteer’s blood on its hands.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there’s any further information that I can provide.
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