Imagine living in a hostile concrete enclosure so small that you can barely stand up and turn around. There’s a fierce lion to your left and a quivering zebra to your right, and you’re sitting in your own feces. Kids taunt you daily and your medical problems go untreated by your caretakers.
This is the life of the endangered Siberian tiger at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington. That’s right. Our beloved amusement park where we have spent many of our best summers is actually a wild animal’s worst nightmare.
Lagoon has been cited 20 times since 1997 by the USDA for failing to comply with the Federal Animal Welfare Act, and who knows how many times incidents have gone unreported. Lagoon continues to turn a blind eye to this abuse. The past failed petitions and protests to get these animals out has proved that Lagoon is in the zoo industry for one thing: money.
Although Lagoon claims the zoo is one of its biggest moneymakers, most people have no idea about the zoo tucked behind the end of the train ride. As Students In Action, we believe that this tiger needs our and all of Utah’s help.
Jessica Moskowitz, Piper Thomas, Maiya Stone