unaccredited zoo to display baby

Unaccredited zoo to display baby animals at N.M. mall

PETA undercover report on G.W. Exotics:

http://www.peta.org/feat-gw_roadshow.asp

For Immediate Release:

April 10, 2007

Contact:

Lisa Wathne 757-622-7382

Roswell, N.M. -- This morning, after learning that G.W. Exotic Animal

Memorial Park's (GW) exotic-animal display is scheduled to begin

appearing at the Roswell Mall tomorrow, PETA fired off a letter to

Roswell Mayor Sam D. LaGrone and the City Council calling on the city

to immediately cancel GW's appearances and enact legislation to

prohibit the display of exotic animals in the future. In its letter,

PETA points out that GW has a record of animal abuse and chronic

failure to comply with the federal Animal Welfare Act and warns Mayor

LaGrone and the City Council about the potential dangers of allowing

the public to come into contact with exotic animals.

During PETA's investigation of GW last year, an undercover

investigator witnessed that a lion was not provided with pain relief

following the amputation of the stump of her leg after it was torn off

by tigers, that a wounded horse suffered for days with an untreated

broken leg before dying and being fed to big cats, that tigers were

hit with a rifle butt, and that a goat had an untreated head wound.

PETA points out that GW has been cited repeatedly by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violating the minimum standards

of care set forth in the federal Animal Welfare Act. In January 2006,

GW was put on probation for 18 months and paid a $25,000 fine to

settle USDA charges that included dangerous animal-handling practices,

filthy transport conditions, failure to provide drinking water,

insufficient staffing, and many filthy, wet, unsafe, and dilapidated

enclosures.

Close encounters with wild animals also put people at serious risk.

Just last month, at GW's animal park in Wynnewood, Okla., two

chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure and reportedly ran loose for

nearly an hour before being recaptured. In January 2007, a mall patron

was bitten by a young African lion who was exhibited by GW at the

Sunset Mall in San Angelo, Texas.

"Animals who are relegated to prison-like cages in backyard breeding

facilities are ticking time bombs," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy.

"For the safety of animals and the public, it's time to ban all

exotic-animal displays and send the likes of GW packing."