Caught: Bailiwick Ranch Cited Following Death of Fox

Feds Take Action After Animal Apparently Dies Slow, Painful Death From Frostbite

For Immediate Release:
May 26, 2015

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Notoriously cruel roadside zoo Bailiwick Ranch—a facility PETA has tracked for years—has been slapped with a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) citation following an investigation into the January 2015 death of a red fox (pictured here) who suffered from frostbite after being left outside during a period when temperatures plummeted to a low of -6 degrees—far below the safe range that red foxes are adapted to withstand without adequate protection. According to the USDA’s report, which recently became publicly available and was obtained by PETA, a Bailiwick staffer discovered that both of the fox’s back legs were severely frostbitten and took the animal indoors but never sought veterinary care or pain relief for the fox, who died the following day. The facility was also cited shortly before the animal died for removing the top from the fox’s enclosure, which likely further exposed him to the bitter cold.

“This facility’s dangerous negligence is directly responsible for this fox’s likely agonizing, preventable death—further  proof that it has no business keeping sensitive wild animals with complex needs,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders. “PETA encourages families to spare animals this all too common pattern of neglect and abuse by giving all roadside zoos a wide berth.”

As documented by PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” this fox’s death is far from Bailiwick’s first offense. According to USDA reports, the facility was cited in 2013 because staffers had similarly failed to call the attending veterinarian in a timely manner after noticing changes in a chimpanzee’s behavior in the days preceding her death. Bailiwick has also been cited for water containers that were filled with algae and mud and animal enclosures that were infested with rats.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.