West Coast Game Park Safari Hit With Citations for Sick, Injured Animals

Feds Take Action Following PETA Complaint Against Lack of Veterinary Care for Injured Leopard

For Immediate Release:
November 25, 2015

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has hit the notoriously cruel roadside zoo West Coast Game Park Safari with citations following a recent PETA complaint about a leopard named Ninja, who was suffering from a raw, untreated wound on his tail, which he was found sucking on, indicating discomfort and stress. On a follow-up visit, inspectors documented additional animals suffering without adequate veterinary care, including a bear with extensive hair loss. A solitary peccary was also languishing at the facility with an inflamed eye and overgrown hooves. As the USDA noted in its report, the zoo has a “pattern of personnel not performing adequate daily assessment of animal health.”

“This shoddy roadside zoo’s chronic inability to meet even the most minimal guidelines of basic care has put vulnerable animals at risk,” says PETA Foundation Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA urges anyone who cares about animals to steer clear of this facility and all roadside zoos.”

As noted by PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” West Coast has come under fire by the USDA before: A PETA complaint led inspectors to find five capybaras who were suffering from severe hair loss and dry skin—which workers failed to notice—possibly because of their filthy, muddy water basin.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.