Las Vegas Zoo Closes After Staff Walks Out

The notoriously substandard Las Vegas Zoo, where 150 animals are confined on just three acres, has
finally closed its doors after all its zookeepers mysteriously quit earlier
this week, and the zoo’s owner, Pat Dingle, isn’t talking.

This
cockatoo, seen at the zoo on July 29, 2009, did not look well and was panting
vigorously and feather-plucking.

The zoo has been the target of PETA efforts
for years. In 2009, we called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to
revoke the zoo’s license after a 10-year-old lion named Midas died after eating a ball that had been thrown into his
enclosure from a nearby store. In 2012, PETA was instrumental in helping the Nevada Occupational Safety and
Health Administration successfully prosecute and fine the zoo $4,200 for
allowing employees to have dangerous direct contact with macaques.

Despite pressure from PETA for years to
release a solitary chimpanzee named Terry to a sanctuary, Dingle has steadfastly refused, even
though the Animal Welfare Act specifies that chimpanzees, as social animals,
should live with other members of their species.

Terry
was seen by a PETA activist who said his space was “littered with rotten bananas, one shriveled
orange and … filthy water.”

With the abrupt departure of Dingle’s staff,
PETA was worried that no one was caring for the animals, so we contacted animal
control, which, with the USDA, is reportedly already removing animals from the
property. We are hopeful that Terry will be sent to a sanctuary so that he can
finally live with other chimpanzees after 18 years in solitary confinement.

This zoo’s long-overdue closure seems to be
part of a trend in the Las Vegas area toward growing awareness of the needs of
captive wild and exotic animals. PETA has had recent successes in getting
permits denied for several exotic-animal exploiters, including Mike Casey, The
Fercos Brothers, and Karl
Mitchell and we are now helping local officials strengthen
regulations pertaining to the private ownership of wild and exotic animals.