SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s Lions Tigers & Bears participated in PETA’s largest roadside zoo rescue, transporting a dozen eclectic animals cross-country to safe homes.

What You Need To Know

  • Sixty-five animals of 30 species were rescued from a roadside zoo in Maryland, the largest in PETA's history

  • San Diego's Lions Tigers & Bears helped transport a dozen eclectic animals across the country to safe homes

  • Two Himalayan black bears are now on a strict diet to lose weight because of years of eating junk food

  • Lions Tigers & Bears is a no contact, no kill, no breed and no sell sanctuary

Lions Tigers & Bears took in five of the animals at its sanctuary: two Himalayan black bears, two miniature horses and one llama. The two Himalayan black bears are sisters named Susie and Sallie, who are now on a strict diet since they came in hundreds of pounds overweight due to years of eating junk food.

“They’re still kind of learning to enjoy their vegetables,” foreman Cody Heimann said. “It can’t be very fun to have that much weight, fat and just to feel that way all the time.”

Lions Tigers & Bears is a no contact, no kill, no breed and no sell sanctuary. Founder Bobbi Brink said Tri-State Zoological Park was cited for many animal welfare and Endangered Species Act violations; several animals, including a lion and tiger, died while in the facility’s care.

PETA began filing lawsuits in 2019, which ultimately led to Tri-State Zoo’s permanent closure, including a requirement to re-home its remaining animals. Sixty-five animals of 30 species were surrendered altogether, making it the largest roadside zoo rescue in PETA’s history.

“Tri-State spent years exploiting vulnerable animals and allowing suffering ones to rot there, but now these survivors will be able to live in comfort and safety, with the care they’ve long been lacking,” said PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “Thanks to PETA’s hard-fought lawsuit and over a dozen facilities that offer topnotch care, one more shoddy roadside zoo has been removed, and these animals saved.”

Brink said they were honored and relieved to help transport a dozen of those animals.  

“It’s just nice because now [these animals] don’t ever have to worry,” Brink said. “They have a routine and a keeper and every day they’re getting proper food and diet and, you know, nobody’s chasing them around to pet them. They’re not being forced to do anything that they don’t want to do.”

Lions Tigers & Bears helped PETA transport two emus, two geese, two coatis, and a pot-bellied pig to an accredited sanctuary in Texas. Other species rescued include exotic birds, a Bengal cat, alligators and a squirrel monkey.