German Star Joins PETA in Calling For Sanctuary Release for Bua Noi

Bangkok – Yesterday, German actor and The Masked Singer star Felicitas Woll sent a letter to Kanit Sermsirimongkol, the owner of Pata Zoo, located at the top of the Pata Pinklao Department Store, urging him to relinquish the animals held there and to accept PETA’s offer to arrange for their retirement at reputable sanctuaries. The long-suffering animals at Pata Zoo include a deprived, isolated chimpanzee named Kat and Bua Noi, a lone gorilla held there for over 30 years. To drive home the extent of the animals’ imprisonment, Woll also appears in an ad for PETA, in which she languishes behind bars with no hope of escape.

“Being in a lush sanctuary home with grounds to explore and friends to do so with would certainly bring Bua Noi much more joy than concrete walls, metal bars, and the occasional piece of trash to play with ever could,” writes Woll to Sermsirimongkol. “The animals at Pata Zoo look up to you as their caretaker, so please do the right thing for them.”

A PETA investigation into Pata Zoo, dubbed “the saddest zoo in the world”, revealed that animals are caged in cramped, barren enclosures and denied sunlight, fresh air, enrichment, and any opportunity to engage in natural behaviour. Many show signs of severe captivity-induced psychosis. Numerous businesses in the shopping mall have terminated their rental leases over concern for the animals’ welfare. PETA is now urging AIS Telewiz and Owl Cha to reconsider their support of Pata Zoo and end their leases, too.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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