PETA to Hit Waccatee Zoo With One-Two Punch
For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2021
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
PETA will pummel Waccatee Zoo this Saturday: A banner proclaiming, “Don’t Go to Roadside Zoos!” will fly over Myrtle Beach, while PETA’s “tiger” mascot will lead a protest in memory of Lila—the tiger who eventually went hairless and then recently died there after her physical health deteriorated—on the road leading to the notorious animal prison.
When: Saturday, April 3, 12 noon–2 p.m.
Where: PETA’s banner will fly above Myrtle Beach’s downtown and waterfront.
When: Saturday, April 3, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Where: PETA supporters and other members of the community will protest on the road leading to Waccatee Zoo, at the intersection of Highway 707 and Bay Road in Myrtle Beach.
“No one with a drop of kindness can support a roadside zoo that let a tiger waste away in a barren cell,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Michelle Sinnott. “PETA stands ready to help place the three big cats still in Waccatee Zoo’s cages at accredited sanctuaries, where they would receive the expert care and space to roam that Lila never had.”
Over the course of 2020, Lila lost all of her fur except for a small patch on her face; she had a severely hunched back and an abnormal gait, consistent with painful osteoarthritis; and by December, she had lost a significant amount of weight and had poor muscle condition, consistent with muscle wasting. PETA discovered that she was missing from Waccatee in February and demanded answers, and the roadside zoo finally admitted that she had died.
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.
