Ahead of Thanksgiving (October 9), this Friday PETA supporters will gather in Victoria and give away free Gardein roasts to encourage people to enjoy a vegan holiday and spare turkeys, nearly 3 million of whom are killed and sold in Canada each year for Thanksgiving alone.
When: Friday, October 6, 6 p.m.
Where: Cook Street Village (near the intersection of Cook and Oxford streets), Victoria
“Turkeys feel pain and fear, experience joy, value their lives, and don’t deserve to be carved up and stuffed any more than we do,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging everyone to show a little mercy by tucking into savory, satisfying vegan roasts that give everyone something to be thankful for.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a “ThanksVegan” recipe guide.
The big cats, bears, and other animals at the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation (Kirshner)—a roadside zoo in Oroville, California––live in tiny, dismal chain-link cages without access to grass, trees, pools, or any other meaningful environmental enrichment.
A tiger named Majestic-Lapua in his cramped cage at Kirshner
Kirshner has a long, troubling history of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—which is responsible for enforcing the AWA—has repeatedly cited this notorious facility for failing to provide for even the most basic needs of the animals it confines. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA)—a state agency responsible for ensuring workplace safety—has also cited the roadside zoo for failing to keep its workers safe.
Check out the timeline of citations from state and federal agencies below to discover why PETA dubbed Kirshner the “Worst Roadside Zoo in America.”
2015: A Rare USDA Fine for Kirshner
In November 2015, the USDA hit Kirshner with a $5,464 penalty for six alleged violations of the AWA that took place between November 2011 and August 2014, including one for failing to provide a tiger and a lynx with veterinary care and four for allowing members of the public to directly (and dangerously) interact with lions, tigers, and a bear.
The USDA only issues such penalties for egregious animal welfare violations, securing Kirshner’s place among the worst of the worst roadside zoos.
A black bear cub sits in a bucket of drinking water inside a cage at Kirshner.
2016–2019: 10 More Citations for Violating the AWA
Despite the 2015 USDA penalty, Kirshner continued to rack up citations for failing to care properly for the animals it caged. From 2016 through 2019, the USDA cited the roadside zoo 10 times for violating the AWA.
These lowlights illustrate the egregious suffering that animals endured at Kirshner.
July 20, 2016: The USDA cited the facility for failing to handle a 16-week-old lion cub named Atlas properly and safely after staff allowed a member of the public to hold him without using a harness or a leash. The inspector noted that he “appeared to be struggling and pushing away from the individual holding him.”
April 26, 2017: The feds cited the operation for failing to provide a lynx who had a history of seizures with adequate veterinary care. After enduring back-to-back seizures, he was found dead in his enclosure. The USDA inspector noted, “The only treatment regimen ever attempted was phenobarbital alone, which was not sufficient to adequately control the seizures in this animal.”
April 26, June 7, and June 26, 2017: The USDA cited Kirshner on each of these days over its failure to provide a lion cub named Lucie with adequate veterinary care and an appropriate diet. According to inspection reports, she became “severely lame, uncomfortable, and unwilling to stand,” and at the request of USDA officials, radiologists reviewed imaging of her bones and determined that they showed signs “typically seen in metabolic bone disease, which can be caused by a dietary deficiency.”
August 15, 2019: Kirshner was cited for failing to provide animals with cooling measures in triple-digit temperatures. The USDA inspector noted that several animals “were panting and appeared uncomfortable and hot.” Inside a den box where a clouded leopard was observed panting, a thermometer showed the surface temperature to be about 106 degrees. Under the deck in the ringtail enclosure, it was around 110 degrees.
Lucie against the fencing of her tiny enclosure
2021–2022: Kirshner Receives More Than a Dozen Additional AWA Citations Plus Multiple Penalties From Cal/OSHA
From January 2021 through June 2022, the USDA doled out 13 more AWA citations to Kirshner––an average of one citation every six weeks. In seven straight USDA inspection reports, officials detailed many of the same problems, indicating that this seedy facility was apparently incapable of fixing its issues or unwilling to do so.
The serious issues documented at America’s worst roadside zoo caused animals to suffer and jeopardized their welfare. They included inadequate veterinary care, improper handling of animals, and inadequate cooling measures during hot weather.
January 7, 2021: The USDA cited Kirshner for failing to have a valid written program of veterinary care.
June 22, 2021: The USDA cited Kirshner over an incident in February 2021 in which a volunteer was injured by a leopard named Royal while she was inside the big cat’s enclosure. Cal/OSHA later fined the facility $1,800 for allowing this incident to occur. The Cal/OSHA summary explained that the leopard had jumped on the volunteer after she fell down and started biting her around the neck, inflicting puncture wounds that required hospitalization. The leopard escaped their primary enclosure and was deemed “a threat to the community until [the animal] was back inside [the] primary containment,” according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection report.
August 11, 2021: USDA officials cited Kirshner—again—for failing to provide animals with cooling measures, this time on a day forecasted to reach 106 degrees. The inspector noted several animals who appeared uncomfortable, particularly those who were overweight, including a tiger, a tiger/lion hybrid, a leopard, a lynx, and a clouded leopard. The inspector also observed that numerous cats were displaying visible signs of labored respiration, such as open-mouth breathing, owing to the heat.
August 11, 2021: Kirshner was cited for failing to provide a deer who had overgrown hooves with adequate veterinary care, which could cause discomfort and lead to injuries or lameness.
November 1, 2021: Kirshner was cited for failing to notify its veterinarian about a coatimundi’s progressing hair loss and wounded leg. It also failed to notify the vet about a wolf who was incessantly pacing around an enclosure, to the point of wearing a deep track into the ground.
January 4, 2022: Kirshner failed to handle a snow leopard in a way that minimized the risk of harm to the animal, earning the worst roadside zoo in America yet another citation. This came after a Kirshner volunteer took the snow leopard to a juvenile detention facility, where two people were photographed holding the cat.
April 22, 2022: Stemming from a PETA complaint, Cal/OSHA again cited and fined Kirshner based on several social media posts showing staff dangerously handling a leopard who was too large and too mature to be handled safely by members of the public.
June 15, 2022: Kirshner was cited for failing to consider the psychological well-being of a ring-tailed lemur who was being housed alone after the death of another lemur.
An overweight tiger/lion hybrid named Topaz standing in the corner of a cage
What You Can Do for the Big Cats, Bears, and Other Animals at America’s Worst Roadside Zoo
Never buy a ticket to Kirshner or any other roadside zoo where animals languish in miserable conditions. Please let your friends, family members, and social media followers know why they should do the same.
And please urge the Barry Kirshner Wildlife Foundation to send the animals it exploits to reputable facilities, where they could finally get the care they desperately need:
What’s the difference between the terms vegan and plant-based? To get to the root of it, vegan MEANS something—plant-based doesn’t.
Digging Into the Details: ‘Vegan’ vs. ‘Plant-Based’
Just as it’s important to know the distinction between vegetarian and vegan, it’s crucial to grasp the difference between plant-based and vegan. Vegan means having respect for all our fellow animals and never using them for experimentation, food, clothing, entertainment, or any other purpose. Plant-based can be a misleading, wishy-washy marketing term that’s ambiguous about the presence of animal-derived ingredients.
Plant-based has become a buzzword because of its trendy association with health and wellness. Some nonvegan companies have exploited the popularity of vegan foods by slapping “plant-based” labels on products that contain eggs, dairy, and even meat.
Plant-based products aren’t necessarily vegan, so that label can be deceptive. Going vegan and ensuring that nothing you purchase—whether it’s food or anything else—supports animal exploitation is the best way to be a compassionate consumer. But being vegan doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. It’s not about personal purity or worrying over .000001% of a product’s ingredients—it simply means always doing your best.
Much of the mainstream discourse about these terms comes from economics and marketing publications interested in boosting sales of plant-based products. These outlets are rarely concerned about the most compelling reason for peopleto be vegan: respect for our fellow animals.
An international survey has shown vegan to be the more consistently understood term, revealing that consumers don’t understand what plant-based means and recommending labeling products “vegan” when appropriate. PETA urges companies to make those labels big and bold.
Parting With ‘Plant-Based’: PETA Is Making ‘Vegan’ Mainstream
With over four decades of dedicated advocacy resulting in countless major victories for animals, PETA is doing everything possible to make the word vegan mainstream in a positive way—just as we’re intent on exposing speciesism and ending it.
PETA is leaning away from the term plant-based. We’re passionate about promoting the importance of being vegan, especially to younger people, who have a natural affinity for animals and will one day be responsible for ensuring their well-being.
Being vegan benefits all animals, including humans, and helps do the following:
Use the term vegan often to help normalize it. Pledge to go vegan—it’s easy with the help of PETA’s free vegan starter kit—and urge everyone you know to go vegan:
As the fishing industry tries to promote October as National Seafood Month, on Tuesday PETA supporters will hand out free vegan tuna next to a new messagemaking waves among local bus commuters and compelling them to consider the hidden costs of their fish fillets. Washing up at bus shelters near Long John Silver’s and other similarly fishy venues across the city, the ad campaign points out that fish aren’t the only victims of the fishing industry—millions of other animals, euphemistically known as “bycatch,” also die on its hooks and in its nets every year.
When: Wednesday, October 4, 12 noon
Where: Next to the bus shelter in front of Kroger, 5533 New Cut Rd., Louisville
“Dolphins, sea turtles, birds, sharks, and other animals are all collateral damage to fishers and big trawlers alike,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges conscientious consumers to leave all animals off their plates, for the sake of animals and the planet.”
PETA notes that the fishing industry’s unintentional kills are one of the biggest threats to marine biodiversity worldwide and have resulted in widespread species extinction, habitat destruction, and irreversible damage to ocean ecosystems. The industry is also terribly cruel to its intended victims: More fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined. Fish feel pain as acutely as mammals do, have long-term memories, and sing underwater—yet they’re impaled, crushed, suffocated, dropped into pots of boiling water, or cut open and gutted, often while they’re conscious.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a list of delicious vegan fish options, such as Gardein’s f’sh filets, Sophie’s Kitchen’s Fish Fillets, and Good Catch Plant-Based Crab Cakes, as well as a free vegan starter kit to help people get hooked on vegan food.
