An Arkansas wildlife refuge will be rescuing eight big cats from an Indiana zoo after a court found that the facility mistreated its animals.
Scott Smith, co-owner of Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge near Eureka Springs, says he and his staff left Thursday to retrieve the animals from Wildlife in Need and Wildlife in Deed, Inc. in Charlestown, Indiana.
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued the facility and its owners for violation of the Exotic Species Act of 1973. U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young wrote in his Aug. 3 decision that not prescribing pain medications after declawing cats was “a gross failure” of medical care standards.