Pittsboro Sanctuary Welcomes Lucky Cougar Rescued From Now-Shuttered Roadside Zoo

For Immediate Release:
October 28, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Pittsboro, N.C. –

Local animal sanctuary Carolina Tiger Rescue has a new resident today: a cougar who arrived yesterday following a lawsuit by PETA and a group of concerned residents against the now-shuttered Waccatee Zoo in South Carolina. Carolina Tiger Rescue, a facility accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, cares for lions, tigers, and other animals rescued from roadside zoos, the pet trade, and other dismal conditions. The cougar from Waccatee Zoo joins Carolina Tiger Rescue’s other resident cougar, a male named Beausoleil.

According to PETA’s lawsuit, Waccatee denied animals adequate shelter from the elements, space, and security and failed to provide other animals with adequate nutrition. After the lawsuit was filed, Waccatee began secretly transferring animals out of the facility, including to Zootastic Park, a roadside zoo in Troutman, North Carolina. The cougar, a pot-bellied pig, and a coatimundi have now been removed from Zootastic by PETA and transferred to accredited sanctuaries, bringing the total number of animals rescued by PETA from Waccatee to 12. The pot-bellied pig and the coatimundi were transferred to Lions Tigers & Bears, a sanctuary in California. PETA’s lawsuit led to a settlement agreement, which resulted in Waccatee’s closure and bans on its operators from owning or exhibiting wild animals, breeding or exploiting domestic animals for profit, and working or volunteering at other roadside zoos.

*The cougar’s pen at Waccatee Zoo. The U.S. Department of Agriculture previously cited the facility for failing to provide cougars with adequate enclosure space and shelter. Credit: PETA*

“At their new sanctuary homes, these animals will have a chance to thrive in large, lush naturalistic habitats and finally receive the care they desperately need,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA urges kind people everywhere to stay far away from roadside zoos, where animals are exploited for entertainment and denied everything that’s natural and important to them.”

Cougars are solitary and secretive animals who travel up to 15 miles a day in search of food in the wild. Yet at roadside zoos, these animals are put on public display and often confined to dismal, barren cages and deprived of adequate food, water, shelter, and veterinary care. Baby animals are frequently torn away from their mothers to be used in stressful public encounters, while adult animals may suffer from psychological distress as a result of constant frustration and even abuse.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.