OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline) – Stars of “Tiger King” – the Netflix documentary that became a sensation earlier this year – are picking a fight with PETA in order to cultivate their own reality show, the group says in court documents.
On June 29, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a motion that asks an Oklahoma federal judge to force Lauren Lowe to answer its questions about how she and husband Jeff came to be in the possession of four lion cubs.
The Lowes own and operate the Greater Wynnewood Zoo, having taken it over during the legal troubles of Joe Exotic.
“While not offering written objections to or moving to quash PETA’s subpoenas, she has turned the process into unproductive theater for the purported benefit of a planned reality television program,” PETA’s lawyers say.
The litigation predates “Tiger King” and the Lowes’ subsequent notoriety. It began in Indiana federal court in 2017 as PETA sought a determination that big cats at Tim Stark’s Wildlife in Need zoo were being treated in a manner that violated the Endangered Species Act.
Four lion cubs born there are now in the possession of the Lowes, PETA says, after being transmitted 800 miles in a truck in August days after their birth.
PETA says in 2019, Jeff Lowe and Stark announced plans for a new roadside zoo in Oklahoma. Ownership of the big cats at Stark’s zoo was transferred to Jeff Lowe, but a court order in the Indiana case prevented the transfer of any big cat before the litigation came to an end.
PETA went to Facebook, pointing at a September 2019 post by Jeff Lowe that said “Tim pulled five newborn cubs, against a Federal Court Order and asked me to claim they were born at my park.”
Jeff Lowe told the Indiana judge that four lion cubs had been born at Stark’s zoo and transferred to Oklahoma, PETA says.
Another Facebook post by Jeff Lowe stated that Stark “lied to a Federal Judge by telling the judge that I instructed him to pull lion cubs. What he didn’t know is that Lauren recorded him talking about pulling the cubs and asking me to lie to the USDA. I also made sure to text Stark about him pulling cubs against a court order. Those text messages have been turned over to the Indiana (Attorney General) and the Judge in his federal trial.”
PETA added Jeff Lowe as a defendant in the Indiana litigation earlier this year. In May, he was deposed but refused to answer any questions, claiming the Indiana AG instructed him not to. PETA has an email from the AG’s office that says no one instructed Lowe to keep quiet – to which Lowe replied “That is complete bulls**t.”
PETA then set its sights on Lauren Lowe to see if she would be more cooperative.
It sought discovery on how the four lions are being treated at Greater Wynnewood, as well as medical histories and how the Lowes came to be in possession of them.
Lauren Lowe refused to answer during a 40-minute deposition, PETA says. She said the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act keeps her from releasing their medical histories.
PETA claims the cubs are being starved and neglected.
“PETA desperately needs information sought from Mrs. Lowe in order to establish for the Southern District of Indiana whether Mr. and Mrs. Lowe are keeping these cubs in conditions that violate the Endangered Species Act,” PETA says.