PETA Statement: ‘Doc’ Antle Indictment Shows Need for USDA Action
For Immediate Release:
June 30, 2022
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Tiger King villain and Myrtle Beach Safari operator Bhagavan “Doc” Antle has just been indicted on 10 federal charges, including previously announced money laundering charges as well as six counts of wildlife crimes for allegedly engaging in wildlife trafficking with cheetahs, red ruffed lemurs, and a chimpanzee. The indictment makes it clear that a conviction would allow the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to find new homes for the animals involved.
Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet:
Kudos to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for doing what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has refused to do for years: crack down on “Doc” Antle’s endangered-animal exploitation outfit. PETA will keep pushing the USDA to do its job, revoke Antle’s license, and stop letting him profit from animals’ misery.
More details about Antle’s exploitation of animals are available here.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
