Ultimate 9 Animals Rescued From Infamous Waccatee Zoo

On May possibly 4, PETA assisted in the rescue of the ultimate nine animals held at the infamous Waccatee Zoo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! Following a lawsuit filed by PETA and two anxious citizens who frequented the roadside zoo and were being appalled by circumstances for animals there, a llama, two bears, and six emus are heading to The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWAS) in Springfield, Colorado. At the sanctuary, these animals—following their quarantine and rehabilitation—will be introduced into enormous, multi-acre habitats in a normal placing. There, they’ll no longer be utilised as props for human leisure. They’ll are living as freely as is feasible for captive animals.

Waccatee promises that it completely closed its doors to the public in September 2022, soon after PETA and our co-plaintiffs filed a lawsuit versus the facility.

Two Bears Rescued From Waccatee Zoo

The bears—who are thin and endure from a continual pores and skin condition—will get rapid expert veterinary treatment the moment they arrive at their new sanctuary property.

They’ll go from living in a cramped, darkish enclosure at Waccatee, in which they could only get a few measures in any direction, to dwelling in a bear’s paradise at TWAS, where they’ll have the issues these animals want and appreciate:

• Acres to roam
• Soft floor for digging
• Options for climbing, foraging, and socializing with other bears

In whole, PETA has rescued 80 bears from roadside zoos, personal homeowners, and the entertainment marketplace in the previous 11 years.

Seven Other Animals Now Headed to Sanctuary

At the sanctuary, the llama and six emus will have ample space to take a look at. Their new homes arrive finish with acceptable shelter from the factors as nicely as entry to exceptional care from committed sanctuary team.

In spite of the Rescue, PETA’s Lawsuit In opposition to Waccatee’s Operators Continues

Earlier, PETA dubbed Waccatee “the worst roadside zoo in The united states.” For many years, we advocated for the roadside zoo’s closure because of to the ramshackle circumstances and long-term neglect of the animals held there. On April 27, 2022, PETA and our two co-plaintiffs filed go well with from the facility and its operators, alleging violations of both equally the federal Endangered Species Act and South Carolina’s public nuisance legislation.

In September 2022, PETA discovered that Waccatee was secretly transferring some of the animals it held, an act that hindered our potential to acquire evidence about the animals’ circumstances and push for any needed veterinary procedure. We submitted an unexpected emergency movement to prohibit added transfers.

The court agreed with us, barring extra animal transfers besides with prior detect to the plaintiffs and necessitating Waccatee to account for the locale of the transferred animals. Most of the roadside zoo’s animals experienced currently been transferred to other roadside zoos or marketed at shady exotic-animal auctions.

PETA’s lawsuit remains ongoing. We’re performing to make sure that individuals who ended up dependable for the persistent neglect of animals at Waccatee will by no means again be allowed to exploit wild and unique animals.

Here’s How You Can Support Bears Exploited for Amusement

Yellowstone Bear Globe is a bear-breeding tourist trap that tears susceptible, months-previous cubs absent from their mothers and exploits them in public encounters. These bears would in a natural way stay with and learn from their moms for the first two years of their life, so depriving them of this bond for commercial attain is a type of speciesism—a human-supremacist worldview. The roadside zoo also ships bears to other shady exhibitors across the state.

Urge Yellowstone Bear World’s remaining promoters not to help the roadside zoo: