Bieber Family Uses Tiger From Disgraced Trainer Charged With Cruelty to Animals

For Immediate Release:
May 2, 2016

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

This weekend, Justin Bieber posed for photos with a tiger at his father’s engagement party in Toronto—and now PETA has sent the pop star a letter alerting him that the big cat appears to have come from the Bowmanville Zoo, whose owner was just charged with five counts of cruelty to animals after a PETA video showed him viciously whipping a young tiger.

“Justin Bieber is lucky not to have had his throat torn out by this stressed captive tiger,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “Tigers used for photo ops are torn away from their mothers shortly after birth, and the Bowmanville Zoo, in particular, was caught whipping one tiger more than 17 times, even after the cat was lying on his back in a position of submission and fear. This is why PETA urges everyone to stay far away from cruel and dangerous big-cat photo ops and also why we’re asking Justin to vow that this will be his last time promoting these types of abusive outfits.”

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and our letter to Justin Bieber is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.