For Immediate Release:
April 11, 2011
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Santa Barbara, Calif. -- PETA has sent a letter to the children of late pop icon Michael Jackson urging them to use the Neverland Ranch's 2,800 acres to establish a sanctuary for rescued exotic animals, rather than the planned menagerie. PETA's request follows reports that the children, Prince Michael and Paris, would like to convert the property into a "community park and center for animals."
In the letter, PETA points out that to use Neverland as a roadside zoo for caged animals would be contrary to the respect for animals that Michael demonstrated when he placed Bubbles, the chimpanzee he raised, in a true sanctuary so that Bubbles could enjoy the freedom to move about, the company of other chimpanzees, and professional care.
"Michael realized that Bubbles belonged with others of his kind in a loving and safe environment, and we hope that Prince Michael and Paris will honor his memory by doing the same for other animals," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "Turning the Neverland Ranch into just another roadside zoo would make it a monument to exploitation and animal suffering."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Michael Jackson's children follows.
April 11, 2011
To: Prince Michael and Paris Jackson, c/o L. Londell McMillan
cc: Thomas J. Barrack Jr.
From: Michelle Cho
Dear Prince Michael and Paris,
PETA is an international nonprofit organization with more than 2 million members and supporters dedicated to the protection of animals. We are writing because it has come to our attention that you hope to one day turn your father's Neverland Ranch into a community park and center for animals. We encourage you to call for this vast refuge to be turned into a true wildlife sanctuary where animals can be properly taken care of instead of a zoo, where people are encouraged to gawk at imprisoned animals in the name of profit.
Your father showed his well-known love for exotic animals by building a zoo at Neverland and through his notable affection for his chimpanzee companion, Bubbles. We praised your father for having made the responsible decision to relocate Bubbles to a true sanctuary where he could live with other primates. By turning Neverland into a sanctuary, you could both honor your father's memory and provide a safe haven for animals like Bubbles—while also educating the public about the plight of captive exotic animals.
Much would have to be done, but with some of the necessary facilities already in place, Neverland Ranch could be a suitable location for an animal sanctuary. You could establish an organization that would provide rescued animals of all shapes and sizes with a safe, permanent home on the ranch's more than 2,800 acres. The best way to gain a realistic understanding of everything that is involved in operating a sanctuary is by familiarizing yourself with the Standards of Excellence established by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and by visiting existing sanctuaries, such as Save the Chimps in Florida and the Performing Animal Welfare Society's wildlife sanctuaries in California.
We encourage you to review these resources and begin planning for the eventual transformation of Neverland Ranch into a sanctuary similar in nature to that of its namesake—a place where to animals can escape from their former lives of abuse and neglect. With that in mind, I would like to offer you PETA's support if you choose to go forward with plans to turn the Neverland Ranch into a true sanctuary. Can I please hear from you?
Respectfully,
Michelle Cho
PETA