PETA recently sent a letter to David Meeks, the executive director of the Hollywild Animal Park, following a horrible fire that took the lives of 27 animals at the Primate Barn at the Hollywild Animal Park in South Carolina.
PETA was spurred into action by the horrific loss of life. Brittany Peet, the Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement for PETA, was the person who had sent this letter to Meeks requesting that the animals who had survived the fire, two baboons and one ring-tailed lemur, be sent to a reputable sanctuary to live out their remaining lives in safety with humane treatment. A formal complaint was also sent to the USDA about the facility.
In an interview with Animal News Examiner Peet expressed that it was not a surprise that this happened. Reputable parks have employees who monitor animals off and on throughout the night and working alarms and smoke detectors. This to insure that emergency situations can be dealt with in a quick manner.
The fire on Friday January 9 was caused by faulty wiring. It killed 27 animals, but 14 animals survived and are now receiving treatment for smoke inhalation. Hollywild has a bad history and has been under PETA's watchful eye for many years. They have had several welfare violations for failing to add environmental enrichment to the chimpanzees.
The letter that Peet wrote to the Hollywild facility spoke to PETA's position in sending their condolences for the losses of the animal's life and hope that Hollywild will do the right thing. They are ready to place the two surviving animals in a reputable facility and pay all the costs of the transfer.
In all the fire took the lives of four chimpanzees, two baboons, two capuchins, two mangabeys, seven lemurs, one bear cub, three tortoises, four wolf hybrid puppies, one African-crowned crane, and a barn cat.
“'Fires roaring through Minnesota farms this year have left a trail of charred barns and more than 44,000 animal carcasses,' recounted Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Maya Rao. 'In December 2014, 7,500 turkeys perished in a fire near Worthington,' along with about 200 pigs at a rendering plant in Newbry Township.
Earlier in 2014, Rao remembered, '300,000 hens perished in La Grange, Wisconsin, in a winter fire that was the largest the town’s fire chief had ever fought; 150,000 hens died in a Galt, Iowa, fire; and a blaze that consumed 13,000 pigs near Truman, Minnesota, in October 2014 was the worst that a consultant for the state’s Board of Animal Health had come across in his 40 years on the job.'”
More at: Agribusiness Plays the Bull Fiddle while Animals Burn
http://www.animals24-7.org/2015/01/22/agribusiness-plays-the-bull-fiddle-while-animals-burn/
What a sad story. Voted
Isn't it though? And I hope PETA shuts them down.
This is very sad to hear this. I wonder if t his person could of prevented this fire and the lives of all these animals. Voted
I hope he has a major fine to pay that will stop him from having the funds to open again and kill more animals. Voted
