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Mariah Rose
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
12 April 2016
Animal Cruelty at Waccatee Zoo
As reported by PETA. animals at Waccatee Zoo appear malnourished and mistreated, and
many locals and tourists on Yelp and Google reviews agree. From the premature death of their
beloved chimp, to the psychological damages they have caused their animals, Waccatee Zoo is
a cruel example of how not to confine animals. The local authorities and the USDA have been
called numerous times in an effort to save the animals, and both have stated that Waccatee Zoo
had no violations. What is considered a violation then? If Waccatee Zoo can get away with
malnourished, sick animals contained in small concrete jail-like enclosures, then what are the
restrictions on how much space animals actually need according to the law? Although it might
seem impossible, PETA and many others continue to fight for animals rights at Waccatee Zoo.
According to SC Great Outdoors article, Waccatee Zoo, Waccatee Zoo is 50 acres full
of common and exotic animals, and many unnatural hybrids. As reported by Born Free USA, to
get a permit to obtain exotic animals, the enclosure they will caged in for the rest of their lives
has to be inspected. It is not hard to pass inspection since the article by Big Cat Rescue, Big Cat
Cages, a big cats cage is allowed to be 200-240 square feet minimum, and Waccatee Zoo is in
the clear since their big cats enclosures are almost exactly that. Waccatee Zoo gets away with
giving their animals the minimum legal amount of space allowed. Mark Derr wrote an article that
said many biologist say that most, if not all zoo enclosures are too small for the animals that are
expected to live in there.

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PETA jumped in to report on Waccatee Zoo when their zoo comers favorite chimpanzee,
Chico, had suddenly died. PETA concluded that he had died from heart disease, stating that the
condition is an extremely common ailment in captive male chimpanzees and reportedly the
cause of his death (Prater), going so far to say that Waccatee Zoo appears to never had taken
Chico to get screened for this disease at all. PETA had asked Waccatee Zoo to move Chico to a
sanctuary to be with other chimps before he passed, but the owner of Waccatee Zoo, Kathleen
Futrell said that Chico was like her son, and they cant legally take Chico away because he is
being taken care of under USDAs standards (Baier and Donaldson-Evans). Chico was not the
only unhealthy animal reported at Waccatee Zoo, there have been sightings of bears having
substantial hair loss, primates in psychological distress, and an overweight cougar who is in dire
need for veterinary attention. From these few observations, it is clear that Waccatee Zoo does not
actually care about their animals as much as they care about getting money from their attractions.
The animals at Waccatee Zoo are derived from food and water, as one tripadvisor
reviewer, named Freedomofspeach843, said in his review titled, Worst Place Ever For
Animals, has said. The animals were fighting over food like they have not been fed in weeks.
The water bowls were empty and every animal seemed distressed. Waccatee Zoo seems less of a
sanctuary for exotic animals, and more like a creepy collection. As the owner stated, My
husband and I retired and always really liked animals so we started collecting them (Gale).
They are not the typical concrete jungle, as Mrs. Futrell, the owner, has said (Gale). The
uneducated owners take pride in their ignorance, they have no idea how to properly take care of
animals and should not be permitted to do so.
Malnourished and mistreated, the animals at Waccatee Zoo continue to be deprived from
their natural resources. Many people, including PETA are advocating for the rights of the

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animals, but it seems that there is no hope. The little amount of care that goes into Waccatee
Zoos beautiful, exotic animals are severely mistreated and are given the minimum legal amount
of attention and nutrition. Biology proves that the way zoo animals are contained is extremely
unhealthy, but the USDA decides to not pay attention to facts and millions of zoo animals
continue to be abused worldwide.

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Works Cited
Baier, Bret, and Catherine Donaldson-Evans. "Animal-Rights Activists Going Bananas Over
Chimp Named Chico | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 20 July 2001. Web.
13 Apr. 2016.
"Big Cat Caging." Big Cat Rescue. N.p., 04 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
Derr, Mark. "Zoos Are Too Small for Some Species, Biologists Report." New York Times.
N.p., 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
Gale, Heather. "Waccatee Zoo: Take a Walk in the Wild." Mbvisit. N.p., 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 13
Apr. 2016.
Prater, Danny. "After Myrtle Beach Zoos Solitary Chimpanzee Dies, PETA Demands Answers."
PETA. N.p., 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
"Waccatee Zoo." Sc Great Outdoors. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
"Worst Place Ever for Animals." Tripadviser. N.p., 16 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.