Roadside Horror Show Refugees Find Sanctuary

Earlier this year the West Coast Game Park Safari in Bandon, Oregon was shut down following a years-long investigation into the deplorable conditions at the roadside petting zoo. Hundreds of animals – lions, tigers, chimpanzees, camels, goats, capybaras – were victims of neglect; now some are finding a new life in sanctuaries. The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minnesota shared photos of its adopted jaguar, a sleek cat the shuttered petting zoo had called Lucifer, now known as Louie. The sanctuary also took in Bently the leopard, Nasha the lioness, and Lyla the lynx. The rescues enjoy spacious habitats and tender care in Minnesota, a far cry from their former lives.

“Lucifer spent hours of each day pacing back and forth from psychological distress,” sanctuary executive director Tammy Thies tells KCBY11. “He was visually very thin and had poor body condition. Now at our sanctuary, he receives proper nutrition and has already put on 15 pounds! He loves to play with watermelons and roll in the tall grass.”

In May, state and federal law enforcement agencies raided the Oregon park after years of documenting multiple USDA violations. They seized and rescued 310 animals suffering from malnourishment, unsanitary enclosures, and lack of medical care. A dead tiger was discovered in a freezer, and some animals – a camel, a kinkajou, a chicken – were so sickly they had to be euthanized.

In August, the Game Park Safari’s owner, 53-year-old Brian Tenney, was indicted on 371 charges, including more than 300 felony counts of animal neglect. These violations might be the least of his problems, as he was also served with charges related to racketeering, methamphetamine trafficking, and illegal firearms possession.

The big cats placed in Minnesota are now acclimating to a very different environment. “We’re so grateful to our supporters who’ve built this sanctuary from the ground up, enabling us to rescue cats like Lucifer when they need it most,” says Thies.

 Other accredited facilities are taking in goats, sheep, kinkajous, wallabies, and capybaras; their names remain confidential during the ongoing legal proceedings and to ensure security for their newly housed exotic species.

Support Louie and the Wildcat Sanctuary here. 

Photo credit: The Wildcat Sanctuary