New Inspection Yields Additional Citations, Even as the Roadside Zoo Is Being Sued by Authorities for Dozens of Alleged Animal-Welfare Violations
For Immediate Release:
November 7, 2016
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Wilmer, Ala. – Even after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) filed a lawsuit against The Mobile Zoo for a long list of alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, the notorious Wilmer facility has continued to rack up citations for keeping animals in dangerous and dirty conditions.
According to the USDA’s newly released inspection report from September 21, primate and bobcat enclosures were littered with animal waste. xcessive waste and the stench of urine were also found in Patagonian cavy enclosures. A foul odor emanated from the freezer—suggesting that the roadside zoo was not preventing animals’ food from spoiling—and decaying food was found inside tiger and prairie-dog enclosures, which could create a disease risk. In addition, an endangered Japanese macaque, possibly confined alone, picked at the walls, while tiger, leopard, and bear dens had rotting wood and a prairie-dog enclosure contained sharp, exposed wires.
“This run-down roadside attraction neglects and endangers animals and should be closed down,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA urges everyone to stay away from The Mobile Zoo so that the animals will be able to get out of there, too.”
The USDA’s lawsuit against The Mobile Zoo is still pending. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—sued the facility earlier this year over its treatment of a chimpanzee named Joe, alleging that he suffered in solitary confinement for nearly two decades in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The roadside zoo finally surrendered Joe, and he is now living at the Save the Chimps sanctuary with chimpanzee companions and vast space in which to run and climb.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
