Although this practice endangers young animals and violates the rules for dealing with federal animal welfare laws, roadside zoo staff often tear small exotic cats away from their mothers so they can use the cubs for photography or send them to other tourist traps. Exotic kitties at roadside zoos are often taken from their mothers when they are days old, which can suppress their immune system and lead to long-term stress. Exhibitors and owners sometimes send newborn cubs to other roadside zoos before they are one month old, putting them at risk of illness.
Delivering newborn exotic cats violates the law
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) acknowledges that domestic cat pups 4 weeks old and younger “have special care and maintenance needs” because they “lack the ability to thermoregulate and lack a fully functioning immune system to fight disease and infections. “The agency says newborn babies” should be kept with their mother as long as possible after birth to ensure good health. “
Thanks to PETA, the USDA has taken action against roadside zoos that ship neonatal exotic cats across the country.
After we notified the USDA of the following roadside zoos and their operators that are doing this practice, the feds quoted them:
- Tom Harvey, owner and operator Zoological Park Safari, for transporting a lion cub under 4 weeks from Wild Wilderness, Inc., in Arkansas to his facility in Kansas
- Tanganyika Wildlife Park, for transporting three 18-day-old Eurasian Lynx kittens from his Kansas facility to Jeremy Tietz, owner and operator of Saginaw Tropical Animals in Michigan.
- Animals of Montanafor transporting a 17-day-old cougar cub from his facility in Montana to Florida.
- Dade City Wildlife and Stephen Higgsfor the delivery of two three-week-old lynx cubs from Florida to the Higgs facility, Walk on the wild sidein Oregon and Higgs, to dispatch a two-week-old tiger from a now defunct facility in Oklahoma. Zoo GW belongs “Joe Exotic»At his facility in Oregon
Roadside zoos also often transport their cubs to neighboring cities, exposing them to the public and endangering both animals and humans.
After PETA notified the USDA of these dubious exhibitors that put neonatal babies on the public display, the USDA quoted them:
- Space Farms Zoo and Museum in New Jersey transported a cougar cub to a public event, a car dealership and a radio station, and put the cub on public display at a roadside zoo when she was less than two weeks old.
- Animal Haven Zoo in Wisconsin, a tiger cub, less than four weeks old, was transported to a school class where the vulnerable cub had direct contact with the children.
Take Action to Protect Tigers at Animal Haven Zoo
Many other roadside zoos, including these, have been named for transporting newborn cubs around the country:
Take action for big cats and their cubs
In nature, big cats often have homes hundreds of miles away where they can roam, swim, climb, mate, and raise cubs. But when they are used for photography, the cubs are torn away from their mothers when they are only a few hours, days, or weeks old.
When they get too large to be controlled, exhibitors see them as little more than expenses that can last up to 20 years. While some of these animals are killed, most are sent to dirty cages in dilapidated roadside zoos and are sometimes used for breeding to keep the cycle alive.
Here’s what you can do:
Advise Congress to Support the Big Cats Public Safety Act
Promise to never participate in wildlife photography