Apparent Exotic Animal Hoarder Accused of Allowing Zebras to Escape Must be Punished

Target: Tom Vilsack, Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture

Goal: Appropriately punish man accused of neglecting and recklessly caring for zebras.

Three on-the-loose zebras have drawn headlines in Maryland since August. The plight of these animals is much more than just a zany headline, though. At least one of the zebras died after being caught in an illegal snare trap allegedly set by the zebras’ caretaker, Jerry Lee Holly. The poor animal reportedly succumbed from dehydration and starvation. This tragedy could have been avoided if someone in authority would have taken needed action.

Holly calls himself an exotic animal trader. In fact, the three escaped zebras were part of a group of 40 that this man reportedly has on his property. The truly outrageous part of this story: the U.S. Department of Agriculture had allegedly cited Holly over 100 times in both Maryland and Florida for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Despite these citations, nothing was apparently done, and Holly just kept collecting more animals to potentially put at risk. Now, both the escaped zebras and the animals still under Holly’s care are apparently in imminent danger.

Sign the petition below to demand the agency responsible for looking after the welfare of animals do its job.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

This agency claims that individuals or groups guilty of “serious or chronic violations” of the Animal Welfare Act receive more severe penalties than the standard slap-on-the-wrist warning. Why, then, was a man cited for 100-plus violations of said act allowed to continue trading exotic animals unfettered? Why did it take the escape of three zebras (and the subsequent painful death of at least one) for Jerry Lee Holly to be charged with animal cruelty?

You must fix this broken system of enforcement. Please begin by giving Holly’s case a high-priority designation. He more than meets the criteria of severity, public safety concerns (some zebras are still on the loose), and extensive public interest. Help make this tragic set of circumstances an example for anyone who flagrantly and recklessly violates their duty of care to innocent living beings.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Pixabay 


42 Comments

  1. Shirley Lemieux says:

    System is clearly broken as stated in this petition. The fact that this man was cited 100 times for violations and still continue to do what he is doing reflects a complete failed system of Law and Enforcement. It is truly amazing the amount of people that are employed by the Government that don’t do the jobs that they were hired to enforce.

  2. This CRUEL EXOTIC ANIMAL OWNER SHOULD BE THE ONE KILLED and NOT THESE INNOCENT ZEBRAS THAT SHE LET THEM ESCAPE!!!!

  3. Gabriela Torres says:

    Dear Secretary Vilsack,
    Jerry Lee Holly – guilty of several “serious or chronic violations” of the Animal Welfare Act should by no means be banned from being an exotic animal trader’ and be severely imprisoned and fined, in view that this is not his first offense, – he has been cited for 100-plus violations in the past and yet he has gotten away with murder so far.
    We trust that you will pass a just sentence in favor of the poor innocent animals.
    Thank you!

  4. THIS SADISTIC MONSTER MUST BE PUNISHED!!!!!

  5. WAKE UP!! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH YOU ALL. PUNISH THIS WICKED, EVIL MONSTER AND ENSURE HE IS NEVER, EVER, EVER ALLOWED TO OWN AN ANT, LET ALONE ANY OTHER ANIMAL.UNLESS THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO ACTIONS, THEY GET AWAY WITH THIS BARBARIC EVIL WICKEDNESS TO ANIMALS. ENOUGH NOW!!

  6. How does someone get to keep wild exotic animals in the first place He shouldn’t be allowed to look after an insect yet alone beautiful zebras He must be prosecuted and your laws on exotic animals tightened up

  7. Individuals should not be allowed to keep exotic wildlife, period. Rarely are they equipped to provide what the animals need to be healthy and happy and a lack of oversight is common, which leads to situations like this one. This person also has a prior history of neglect and that isn’t going to change. Take the animals away and ban this person from owning animals for life.

  8. Vilsack is more like a SHIT SACK. He did nothing when he had this position before and its unlikely he’ll do anything to improve things for animals now. He’s solidly in the USDA’s corner and they are the most corrupt government agency. All they do is kill animals and for the parts of their job where they’re supposed to be inspecting places like these zoos or labs, they do nothing. Worst. Agency. EVER.

  9. Such ABUSE & MURDERS must NOT be accepted — think of the torment & suffering underwent by Zebra — ZEBRAS either belong in their natural habitats OR at reputable Sanctuaries where ZEBRAS live healthy and happy.

  10. What kind of public official is taking a pay off to look the other way and just give demented bastards fines?!?!?!
    Put them in jail and take these animals away from them with NO possible way of getting animals to care fir again!!!

  11. I HOPE THIS SON OF A BITCH GETS CAUGHT IN ONE OF HIS SNARE TRAPS AND SUCCUMBS SLOWLY.

  12. Jaime Perez says:

    Holly is a monster and should be in prison! He’s just a greedy creep.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

12825 Signatures

  • Erika Monko
  • Rosa Rodriguez
  • Rebecca Martin
  • Lore Goldstein
  • Emilia Bradley
  • Silvia Rocha
  • Kathryn Bennett
  • Jocelyne Behr
  • cat MIGLIANO
  • Astrid Kuen
1 of 1283123...1283
Skip to toolbar