PETA Calls On Markham Fair Grounds to Bar Abuser’s Tiger Act

Send Notorious Hawthorn Corporation Packing, Say Animal Protectionists

For Immediate Release:
August 8, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Pincourt, Québec — The notoriously cruel Hawthorn Corporation has accumulated $272,500 in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) penalties for Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations, had its license suspended twice, and been forced to relinquish numerous animals, which is why PETA has sent a letter to Faubourg de l’Île Vice President of Permanent Rentals Marcel Toupin urging him to prohibit Hawthorn’s tiger act during upcoming performances of the Shrine circus.

For more than two decades, Hawthorn’s egregious violations of the AWA have continued despite more than 100 USDA citations, including for inadequate veterinary care and space, failing to provide animals with adequate nutrition and safe and sanitary enclosures, and the physical abuse of animals. Hawthorn has confined tigers to cages barely larger than their own bodies for as long as four consecutive months, according to USDA records. In addition, more than 30 tigers have died in Hawthorn’s care since 2000.

“Hawthorn has locked tigers in tiny cages, deprived them of vital veterinary care and adequate food, and allowed dozens of these endangered animals to die,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “PETA is calling on Faubourg de l’Ile to do its homework on the outfits that it hosts—and refuse to do business with law-violating and abusive corporations such as Hawthorn.”

PETA has also filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) challenging the agency’s issuance of permits to Hawthorn that allow endangered tigers to be exported from the U.S. to Canada for use in these performances. The U.S. Endangered Species Act prohibits the export of tigers and other protected species unless such export is for scientific purposes or directly enhances the survival of the species in the wild. Because forcing tigers to perform in circus acts does nothing to help these animals survive in the wild, PETA contends that the FWS’ issuance of the permits was unlawful and seeks the return of the tigers to the U.S.

PETA’s letter to Faubourg de l’Île is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org. To learn more about Hawthorn Corporation’s abysmal history of animal abuse and neglect, click here.