Exotic animal breeder’s cast-offs end up at West Palm Beach “sanctuary”
December 23rd, 2011 by admin
This week WPTV Ch. 5 ran a story about two, nine-week-old tiger cubs who had just arrived at McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary in West Palm Beach. Considering that “sanctuary” is in their name, you might assume that the cubs at McCarthy’s had been rescued from an abusive or neglectful owner, or that they were relinquished by someone who for financial or other reasons could no longer care for the animals. But that’s not what happend. Instead, as Director Mark McCarthy explained, the cubs were a “gift” from Preservation Station in South Carolina: “They called us up and asked us if we wanted one white tiger, so I went up there to pick up one and then they told us to take two.” Preservation Station is run by Doc Antle, a breeder and trainer of exotic animals who produces the tiger show at Miami’s Jungle Island (visit ARFF’s website to learn about the exploitive animal shows at Jungle Island).
Accepting “gifts” of surplus animals from breeders has become a pattern for Mark McCarthy. Last month, another animal dealer with a bad history, the Zoological Wildlife Foundation, gave two young tigers and a liger to McCarthy. In June, Preservation Station gave a different set of tiger cubs to McCarthy. At the time, he told the Palm Beach Post, “They had an explosion of tiger cubs up there so they donated two tigers to our sanctuary.”
By partnering with organizations like Preservation Station and the Zoological Wildlife Foundation, McCarthy is encouraging the continued, irresponsible breeding of tigers and other exotic animals. In addition, the seven new big cats at McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary occupy scarce space and eat up resources that will make it more difficult for the facility to truly rescue animals in need.
Fortunately, the quality of care for animals at McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary is not an issue. That is not the case at another Florida quasi-sanctuary. Read about Dade City’s Wild Things below.