PETA Statement: Leopard Attack Is No Surprise

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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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind