Finally, at last, one of the loonies associated with the
obscene reality-TV miniseries, "Tiger King" has been indicted for wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty. A Fredrick County, Virginia grand jury indicted Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle,
[photo] owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, for trafficking lion cubs, conspiracy, and multiple misdemeanors for animal cruelty and violating the Endangered Species Act. 'Doc' was a character on the show appropriately titled “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which featured the declassé antics of a convicted criminal and animal keeper Joseph
Maldonado-Passage, born Joseph Schreibvogel, aka Joe Exotic. Mr. Exotic is currently serving twenty-two years in prison for attempting to kill a rival zoo keeper, and killing tigers.
In 2019, 119 animals were seized from a Virginia roadside zoo after a judge found Keith Wilson, owner of Wilson's Wildlife Animal Park in Winchester, Virginia, “cruelly treated, neglected, or deprived” the animals of adequate care. Wilson was indicted by the same jury that decided Mr. Antle's case. Wilson faces trial on 46 counts of animal cruelty in June. In view of the Sixth Extinction now decimating Earth's wild creatures, it is way past time animal cruelty is treated as a serious crime deserving time and resources to punish and prevent.
