Dade City

In 2016, PETA contacted Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (TCWR) about taking in big cats from a roadside facility in Florida called Dade City Wild Things (DCWT). DCWT had been taken to court for severe violations of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA)—prematurely separating tiger cubs from their mothers, forcing them into public encounter schemes, and warehousing them in dismal cages once they outgrew the photo-op stage. Among these victims were white tiger cubs Luna and Remington, who were forced to participate in “swim-with-the-tigers” programs where they struggled for hours in harshly chlorinated pools that stung their eyes, all to net a profit for their captors.123

In July 2017, just days before a court-ordered site inspection, DCWT attempted to thwart legal oversight by packing up all their tigers in the middle of the night and shipping them off to distant facilities. Nineteen tigers were subjected to a grueling 1,200-mile haul to Oklahoma—during which a pregnant tigress gave birth and all three cubs tragically died in transit—while five tigers were stowed away at a holding facility in Ocala, Florida. There, the tigers languished for over two years in small 10’x20’ cement cages with no access to the grass just outside.12

During this prolonged legal battle, one cub vanished without a trace from the holding facility. Tragically, for two other tigers, Rory and Rajah, court-ordered relief came too late. In 2019, a storm passed through Florida and downed a tree on their enclosure; Rory and Rajah escaped and were subsequently shot and killed. This heartbreaking escape became the final catalyst that forced the judge’s hand to finalize the rescue order for the surviving cats.21

In January 2020, after nearly three years of legal limbo, the long-awaited call finally came: Luna and Remington were granted their freedom. Four TCWR team members packed up transport crates in our heated rescue trailer and made the 18-hour drive down to Florida. To minimize the number of staff needing to leave our facility, we partnered with fellow Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance (BCSA) member Forest Animal Rescue (FAR), whose dedicated team helped us load the cats. Luna loaded quickly with prompting and greeted everyone with friendly “chuffs”. Remington was understandably anxious and required sedation, but once awake, he too greeted his rescuers with warm chuffs.