Zootastic Fined for Failing Animals, Exposed Public to Ringworm

PETA Urges Families to Stay Away From Cruel and Reckless Roadside Zoo

For Immediate Release:
August 16, 2018

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

According to records that just recently became available, Zootastic Park—a disreputable roadside zoo that PETA has lodged complaints against for years—was penalized $7,450 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November 2016 for nine violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

According to the related inspection reports, Zootastic failed to provide the following cubs with adequate veterinary care: a tiger named Elsa with a bleeding tail injury, a liliger (a crossbred big cat) named Logan who had hair loss over 40 percent of his body, and a tiger named Zara who had hair loss as well as significant swelling around and discharge from her eyes. The roadside zoo also put the public’s health at risk, since three cubs—one of whom was being used in public encounters—were being treated for highly contagious ringworm.

“There’s clear evidence of chronic, long-standing suffering and neglect at Zootastic,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA’s message to people who care about animals and their own health is that they should refuse to buy a ticket to any roadside zoo.”

Zootastic was also fined because it had failed to maintain enclosures in good repair, keep enclosures and premises clean, and ensure that food for animals was safe for consumption after a walk-in freezer was found to be malfunctioning and moldy feed was found in a storage area. The roadside zoo was also fined for failing to have a sufficient number of adequately trained employees after a wildebeest attacked a worker and for not having adequate enclosures after a kinkajou escaped and was killed by a lion cub.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that Zootastic has previously received multiple official warnings from the USDA, including for failing to have proper barriers separating the public from wild animals and a calf with ringworm, failing to seek veterinary care for an extremely thin goat, failing to provide animals with adequate shelter, failing to comply with written veterinary programs, and operating without a license.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.