NC’s Carolina Tiger Rescue knows all about ‘Tiger King,’ and they are not amused
The Pittsboro, NC-based big cat rescue group Carolina Tiger Rescue posted a graphic on social media Friday criticizing the popular Netflix documentary “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” for “missing the opportunity to provide essential information about the suffering that big cats endure when exploited for profit.”
They aren’t wrong.
The Netflix series tells the story of Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic. A stranger man has likely never existed.
Joe Exotic ran a private zoo in Oklahoma before being caught up in a murder-for-hire plot that eventually sent him to prison. It’s all documented in the series, which landed on Netflix on March 20 and has become a bit of a national obsession.
The 7-episode series does show Joe’s mistreatment and neglect of the hundreds of animals that were in his care, but the focus of the show seems to be more about his odd personality, his eccentric lifestyle and his relationships (both good and bad) with other people in the “big cat” world.
When not focused on Joe’s quirks and strange behavior, much of the series focuses on other unusual people like Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who owns an animal park in Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Tim Stark, owner of a roadside zoo in Indiana; Jeff Lowe, a purported millionaire who mostly uses tiger cubs to get women; and Joe Exotic’s nemesis, Carole Baskin, a Florida conservationist and owner of Big Cat Rescue, who has accused Joe Exotic of abusing and exploiting wild animals (and who may or may not have a skeleton or two in her own closet.)
Let’s just say when discussing the show with others who have watched, the word “cult” comes up a lot.
Much has already been written about the bizarro worlds depicted in the series (not to mention the haircuts, wardrobe choices and dental work of the characters), and much as already been debated about whether it’s good or terrible, or somewhere in between.
Carolina Tiger Rescue is firmly in the “terrible” camp, calling the series — which can be entertaining but also truly heartbreaking for animal lovers to watch — “sensationalized.”
Watch it if you must, but Carolina Tiger Rescue and the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, who often end up cleaning up the messes these private collectors and zoos make, also want you to know the following about big cats:
- Animals suffer terribly in cub petting operations.
- Exhibitors “speed breed” female cats at the expense of mothers and cubs.
- Commercial big cat breeders don’t care about the animals’ health.
- The cub petting business is based on a never-ending cycle of animal cruelty.
- Handling stressed cubs can make you or your family sick.
- There is nothing educational about handling a wild animal.
- Big cats are extremely dangerous and should never be kept as pets.
- Legitimate sanctuaries are often the only safe havens for captive big cats.
- Big cat attractions are found in many places, including your own community.
- You can help captive big cats by not patronizing places that exploit them.
Learn more about Carolina Tiger Rescue at carolinatigerrescue.org and see the full text of their “Tiger King” post at facebook.com/CarolinaTigerRescue.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 4:42 PM.
