PETA urges Utah zoo to shut down animal exhibits following alligator attack

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is demanding that a Utah zoo shut down its animal exhibits after a viral video showed one of the facility’s alligators bite and yank a handler into an enclosure during a 5-year-old’s birthday party. 

PETA said in a Thursday letter sent to Shane Richins, the owner of Scales and Tails Utah, that last weekend’s incident shows the dangers of enclosing animals in small spaces for long periods of time, noting that when they have “no opportunity to escape, they become aggressive.” 

“Continuing to exploit them is a recipe for disaster,” wrote Debbie Metzler, the PETA Foundation’s associate director of captive animal law enforcement. 

Metzler wrote that Richins should “release the animals at Scales and Tails to reputable, accredited facilities,” arguing that the zoo will “likely see declining revenue in light of the horrific video of the episode, in which children attending a birthday party are heard crying and screaming.” 

“Shuttering your animal exhibits will show that you’re taking this incident seriously and taking steps to ensure that it never happens again,” she added. 

PETA also launched a petition calling on Richins “to shut down his cruel and dangerous business immediately and send the animals to reputable facilities where they can live in peace.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the petition had been signed by more than 5,500 people. 

The Hill has reached out to Scales and Tails Utah for comment. 

Video of the incident at the zoo in West Valley City, located about 11 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, showed the gator, named “Darthgator,” grab the hand of a handler and pull her into the enclosure. 

One of the visitors then entered the tank and sat on top of the gator while another visitor helped pull the handler out after she was able to remove her arm from the gator’s mouth. 

Richins told The Associated Press following the incident that the handler had opened the enclosure as part of normal procedures to feed the animal, but said that on this particular day the gator “got a little extra spunky.”

The owner also said that the handler had undergone surgery and is expected to fully recover from the attack. 

The zoo in a Wednesday Facebook post responded to questions from some community members on what would happen to Darthgator, writing that as “he continues to be under our care, no harm will come to him.” 

“We have never been under the illusion that he was a cuddly creature,” the zoo added. “He is an alligator and a wild animal at heart. Darthgator was just being an alligator.” 

The post also said that, “Lindsay, our injured trainer, is adamant the accident wasn’t his fault and [he] should not be harmed or killed, as well.”