May 25, 2016
Robert Gibbens, D.V.M.
Western Regional Director
USDA-APHIS-Animal Care
Via e-mail: [email protected]
Re: Request for Investigation of Roberta Kirshner, dba Barry Kirshner Wildlife Foundation
(license no. 93-C-0504)
Dear Dr. Gibbens:
The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) is respectfully requesting immediate inspection, investigation,
and imposition of appropriate enforcement action and penalties against Roberta Kirshner, dba Barry
Kirshner Wildlife Foundation (license no. 93-C-0504; “Kirshner”), in connection with recent apparently
unlawful public handling of big cats at the California roadside zoo. On Wednesday, May 18, 2016,
Kirshner offered a large cat, represented by the exhibitor to be approximately 100 lbs., for a photo op to
one of its paying visitors. According to the visitor, photographed below, Kirshner’s representative gave
instructions to dangle the cat (who appears to be a lion or a liger) from his armpits. As you
know, the USDA recently imposed a $5,464 penalty on Kirshner for numerous Animal
Welfare Act (AWA) violations relating to public handling of big cats that has been facilitated and
encouraged at Kirshner Wildlife Foundation. See USDA Citation and Notification of Penalty
Imposed on Roberta Kirshner, Dec. 17, 2015. The conditions captured in Images 1 & 2 below
demonstrate that Kirshner continues to disregard AWA regulations despite the USDA’s recent
enforcement action and persists in housing and using big cats for public contact sessions in ways that
violate numerous AWA regulations, including:
o 9 C.F.R. § 2.131 (b)(1): Handling of all animals shall be done as expeditiously and carefully
as possible in a manner that does not cause trauma, overheating, excessive cooling,
behavioral stress, physical harm, or unnecessary discomfort.
o 9 C.F.R. § 2.131 (c)(1): During public exhibition, any animal must be handled so there is
minimal risk of harm to the animal and to the public, with sufficient distance and/or barriers
between the animal and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of animals and
the public.
o 9 C.F.R. § 2.131 (c)(3): Young or immature animals shall not be exposed to rough or
excessive public handling or exhibited for periods of time which would be detrimental to
their health or well-being.
o 9 C.F.R. § 2.131 (d)(1): Animals shall be exhibited only for periods of time and under
conditions consistent with their good health and well-being.
o 9 C.F.R. § 2.40 (b) (2): The use of appropriate methods to prevent, control, diagnose, and
treat diseases and injuries, and the availability of emergency, weekend, and holiday care.
o 9 C.F.R. § 3.131, relating to sanitation.
o 9 C.F.R. 2.131 (a): All licensees who maintain wild or exotic animals must demonstrate
adequate experience and knowledge of the species they maintain.
Image 1: May 18, 2016, Barry Kirshner Wildlife Foundation (93-C-0504).
The visitor depicted in this photograph stands at 6’4” tall and described
the cub as extremely heavy (approximately 100 lbs according to the exhibitor),
very difficult to handle, clearly distressed, putrid smelling, and caked with a black,
sludgy, substance on various parts of his body.
Image 2 (close-up): May 18, 2016, Barry Kirshner Wildlife Foundation, 93-C-0504. Note
the inappropriate public handling, the size of this animal who is clearly a juvenile
and over the age of lawful public contact, and the prominent patches of missing
fur all along the bridge of the cat’s nose, head, and forelimbs.
Image 3: This cat is clearly in distress, bearing teeth, and creating
a potentially dangerous situation for the paying visitor who is
holding the animal.
These photographs are deeply concerning for what they depict, and for the additional details provided by
the Kirshner visitor, who noted missing fur on the cat’s nose, head, and forelimbs as well as a putrid and
odiferous, black “sludge” matted in the cat’s fur. While Kirshner’s representatives were
unable/unwilling to pinpoint the age of the animal with specificity (also a concern given AWA
requirements that the exhibitors demonstrate adequate knowledge of the species) or inform the visitor of
the cat’s name, they represented that the cat was 100 pounds. The visitor depicted in the photograph is
over six feet-four-inches tall and weighs more than 200 pounds; he estimated that the cat was at least 70
pounds. I showed this photograph to a big cat expert who estimates that the cat is approximately 6
months old. Since a 1-year-old lion weighs approximately 50 pounds,1 regardless of whether this cat’s
weight is closer to 70 or 100 pounds, it is clearly well beyond the lawful limit for public contact. Indeed,
the USDA has previously stated that “there is an inherent danger present for both the viewing public and
the exhibited animal(s) where there is any chance that the public could come into direct contact with
juvenile or adult big cats” and that “big cats become juveniles when they reach 12 weeks of age.” See In
1
See http://lions.weebly.com/weight-cubs-and-others.html (“Newborn cubs weigh about 3 pounds and are blind
when born. As they get older their weight doubles and triples so by the time they are 1 they weigh about 50
pounds” (emphasis added)).
re Jamie Michelle Palazzo, U.S. Dep’t of Agric. AWA Docket No. 07-0207 (2010) at 9. In the USDA
Decision and Order of Revocation issued against Marcus Cook, dba Zoo Cats, Inc., notes numerous
instances during which the exhibitor used juvenile lions and tigers for unlawful public handling sessions.
See Decision and Order, Zoo Cats, Inc., et al., AWA Docket No. 03-0035 (USDA Sept. 24, 2008).
Indeed, the Zoo Cats Decision and Order notes an instance during which a 15-week-old tiger injured a
spectator during exhibition where there were no barriers between the public and the cat. The cat in the
photographs above is clearly older than 15 weeks and most definitely well-beyond the age for which a
cat may lawfully be used for public contact.
Kirshner is demonstrating a flagrant disregard for AWA regulations meant to keep animals and the
public safe. Given the numerous violations of AWA handling regulations for which Kirshner recently
faced USDA enforcement action, it is clear that the licensee is continuing to demonstrate bad faith and
total unwillingness to comply with the AWA. We request that the USDA does an immediate targeted
inspection of the facility, the way in which public handling opportunities are conducted, the visible and
“off-exhibit” housing facilities for the big cats to ascertain what conditions might lead to the putrid smell
of the cat in this photo and the source of the black “sludge” caked on his body, the source of the
apparent injuries to the bridge of his nose and prescribed veterinary care to ensure proper healing and
prevention of further such injuries, and take the necessary enforcement action against the exhibitor once
and for all to put and end to these dangerous and unlawful public contact sessions with apex predators
that Kirshner is facilitating and profiting off of.
Please assign a complaint number to this correspondence and advise me what that complaint number is
via e-mail at [email protected]. Thank you.
Very truly yours,
Carney Anne Nasser, Esq.
Senior Counsel for Wildlife & Regulatory Affairs
cc: Dr. Laurie Gage, Big Cat Specialist, USDA/APHIS, [email protected]