‘Tiger King’ star Jeff Lowe must turn over cubs due to alleged abuse
A federal judge has ordered Jeffrey Lowe and his wife — who took over the zoo featured in the hit Netflix series “Tiger King” — to relinquish their cubs due to alleged animal abuse and neglect.
“The Lowes have showed a shocking disregard for both the health and welfare of their animals, as well as the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Brightbill, who sued the couple over the disturbing conditions at the tiger park once owned by Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joe Maldonado-Passage.
US District Court Judge John Heill III ordered Lowe and his wife, Lauren Lowe, to surrender all Big Cat cubs under the age of one year and their mothers to the government.
The judge also has required the couple to retain a veterinarian and to turn over records disclosing all animals that have been purchased or disposed of since June 2020. The defendants are further barred from exhibiting the animals without a US Department of Agriculture license.
“We are gratified the court agrees and ordered Mr. Lowe to stop ignoring his obligations under the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act,” Brightbill said in a statement announcing the injunction against the Lowes.
The judge found that two tiger cubs perished less than a week apart due to poor nutrition and lack of veterinary care.
After the Lowes took over the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma from Joe Exotic, Inspectors from the USDA Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service found that one lion cub, Nala, was “lethargic, depressed, thin and would not get up out of the mud even after prompting,” the DOJ said in a statement.
The feds also alleged in their suit that there were “foul-smelling, partially burned and decomposing big cat carcasses,” on the grounds.
After the USDA inspectors suspended Jeff Lowe’s license, the couple moved their animals to a new property in Thackerville, where they planned to open another zoo called Tiger King Park, the feds said.
The defendants had argued that they were not “exhibitors” under the Animal Welfare Act since their zoo is still under construction, but the judge found that they had made their animals available for TV shows and online platforms for compensation.
Joe Exotic is serving more than two decades in prison after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot against his nemesis, big cat rescuer Carole Baskin.