For immediate release:
Jul 29, 2021
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Choctaw County, Okla. – After PETA notified the USDA of a video of a thin and weak tiger performing at the Kosair Shrine Circus, the agency just slapped Adam Burke, an exhibitor from Choctaw County, with numerous links for not meeting federal minimum requirements. the animal protection law, among other things, by refusing to provide an elderly tiger with protruding bones with proper veterinary care and by placing tigers in cages in a hot barn with larvae crawling on the floor.
According to the report, Burke continued to walk on tigers, which appeared “agitated” in travel boxes inside a poorly ventilated and smelly barn (the air temperature reached 92 degrees during the inspector’s visit) for more than a year when they were not used in performances. According to the USDA, such small spaces can have “dramatic negative effects” on animal health. The report also notes that the barn did not have a perimeter fence and posed a “constant, constant potential threat” to public safety.
“These distressed tigers have nowhere to move, they can’t escape the stifling heat, and they can’t get rid of the dirt and stench of the barn,” says Debbie Metzler, deputy director of PETA’s Animal Captive Law Enforcement Administration. “PETA is warning the public to avoid animal circuses that exploit wildlife and pose a threat to the public.”
Last week, PETA asked Burke to allow him to help place animals in accredited shelters. The group is now asking their supporters to join its efforts on International Tiger Day (today) by contacting Burke and convincing him to release the tigers to reputable sites.
PETA – whose motto is partly that “animals are not ours to be used for entertainment” – opposes arrogance, a worldview focused on human excellence. For more information please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…