Nye County: Please Deny Permit to Notorious Chimpanzee Abuser, Says PETA

Mike Casey Seeks Permit to Keep Dangerous Exotic Animals After County Commissioners Give Tiger Exhibitor Karl Mitchell the Boot

For Immediate Release:
May 13, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Pahrump, Nev. — PETA is urging the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission (RPC) to vote on May 15 to deny notorious animal abuser Mike Casey a permit to keep four chimpanzees and a monkey in Pahrump. PETA’s letter comes just a month after Nye County revoked a similar permit from big-cat exhibitor Karl Mitchell. As PETA explains in its letter, after Casey unlawfully kept dangerous animals in Clark County for at least two years without the requisite permit, the county denied his permit application and ordered him to remove the primates permanently. Like Mitchell, Casey has a long history of abusing exotic animals and ignoring the law. At the May 15 meeting, a PETA representative will speak against any move to issue a permit to him.

“Nevada is at last starting to crack down on animal exploiters, and Nye County can continue that progress by denying a permit to a man who has been seen kicking and punching chimpanzees,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “PETA hopes Nye County will stand up for animal welfare and public safety by not allowing another animal abuser to set up shop in Pahrump.”

According to sworn eyewitness testimony and U.S. Department of Agriculture records, Casey has a history of physically abusing chimpanzees—including kicking and punching them, striking them with wooden rods, and dousing them with hot water—and of confining them in dark and squalid conditions. In its letter, PETA points out that Casey’s ownership of exotic animals places his neighbors at risk, as chimpanzees are powerful animals who are known to lash out—particularly when they are abused and denied everything that is natural and important to them. Casey bred and sold Travis, the “pet” chimpanzee who was killed by police after ripping a woman’s face off, and Timmy, who was killed after attacking a sheriff’s deputy, and Casey even had his own face disfigured in a similar attack. Several chimpanzees have escaped from his properties over the years, including last year, multiple privately owned chimpanzees escaped in Las Vegas, where he had disregarded permit requirements for years.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.