Jonathan Peloquin · February 2022
90 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 1
Roadside zoos—such as the one in Netflix’s Tiger King documentary—present pressing issues concerning mistreatment of animals and the lack of meaningful federal regulation or oversight for captive animal care. These problems largely stem from the fact that the only federal statute designed to protect captive animals, the Animal Welfare Act (“AWA”), is underenforced by the government and provides only minimal protection for captive animals. Citizen suits not only allow those concerned with the welfare of captive wildlife to punish those who mistreat animals but can also serve to draw more public and government scrutiny to certain facilities. Although citizens are empowered under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) to complement government enforcement by allowing them to also bring suit, the current mechanisms fall short. Finally, this Note argues that the ESA should be amended to remove any reference to the AWA so that citizens can bring a greater number of successful actions against facilities that slip through the government’s net, and thereby support the purposes of both the ESA and AWA.
