Attractions to Avoid

Traveling Zoos

Traveling zoos cart animals around to shopping centers, schools, fairs, flea markets, nursing homes, birthday parties, trade shows, television stations, and businesses in need of gimmicks to attract customers. Animals are repeatedly subjected to stress associated with transport, alien environments, irregular feeding and watering, handling, and crowds of strangers. The animals are considered expendable, and children's safety is sacrificed for a $10 photo.

A PETA investigator, traveling with Klass Act, found a baboon left crammed inside a crate that prevented her from standing upright for days at a time. Two 1-week-old tiger cubs were in poor condition when they were picked up at an airport. One was motionless, and the other cried for her mother. Instead of receiving immediate veterinary care, they were displayed at a mall. The listless cub died two days later. Bridgeport Nature Center, a big-cat breeding mill that offers a show that is described on its Web site as "fun for all ages," remains in business despite three separate attacks in which tigers mauled a 4-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, and a teenager during photo ops at fair.