PETA Celebrates State Ruling Against Tim Stark of ‘Tiger King’

For Immediate Release:
April 7, 2021

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

The Marion Superior Court has just ruled in favor of the Office of the Indiana Attorney General in its lawsuit claiming that Tim Stark of Netflix’s Tiger King unlawfully used the nonprofit assets of his now-defunct roadside zoo, Wildlife in Need, for personal expenses, such as a failed venture with Jeff Lowe in Oklahoma, which resulted in the deaths of numerous animals Stark had transported across state lines. Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet:

Thanks to the attorney general’s determination, the dozens of animals seized from Tim Stark’s barren cages are now safe from that tiger-abusing leopard killer. Now that their nightmare is over, PETA is looking to the state to see that they end up in qualified facilities that can give them the care that they deserve.

Today’s decision follows PETA’s win against Stark and Wildlife in Need in its Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit, which resulted in the rescue of 25 big cats and an order that Stark can never again own ESA-protected lions, tigers, or lion/tiger hybrids. Stark also permanently lost his U.S. Department of Agriculture license, which means that he can never again exhibit bears, sloths, spider monkeys, or any other species regulated by the agency.

More information is available here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.