Britain’s very own Tiger King, Terry Moore, was found guilty of a number of animal welfare offences at St Albans Crown Court in January
While Joe Exotic earned a huge name for himself when he appeared on the hit Netflix documentary, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, the UK had their very own Tiger King with Terry Moore. The 78-year-old reached TV stardom and befriended a few pals in the showbiz industry before a police raid at his Hertfordshire-based Cat Survival Trust.
Dilapidated conditions were discovered at the location, with sickly and dying big cats living in squalor in their enclosures. The frozen carcasses of 26 endangered animals were found in chests of freezers, and it was soon revealed that a vet hadn’t visited the location in years.
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Terry’s leg had to be amputated after a male puma tore into him after a security door fell off the puma’s hide when he entered the enclosure.
Officers said in a statement at the time: “Police were called to Codicote Road, Welwyn, at 4.04pm on Tuesday 5 November, following reports of a medical emergency. Officers attended the scene alongside colleagues from the ambulance service. The incident involved a man and a big cat that is caged on site.
“The man, in his 70s, was transported to hospital via air ambulance with serious injuries and has received specialist treatment. He remains in a stable condition. The scene was quickly contained and there is no wider threat to the public.”
Terry also spoke about the incident in a recent interview, revealing: “I was losing so much blood. It took me ten minutes hitting it with a broom, I called my wife and she helped bash it on the head. The cat freaked out. It is pure luck I had the phone and broom to hand, I wouldn’t be here if the air ambulance hadn’t come.”
Britain’s Tiger King was found guilty of a number of animal welfare offences at St Albans Crown Court in January, resulting in his trust being closed down. The 28 animals at the trust were either rehomed or euthanised due to their health issues.
Terry was given a £14,380 fine and banned from having animals for five years. However, Terry maintains that he hasn’t done anything wrong and defended having freezers filled with dead cats, including a snow leopard that died in the late 70s.
He claimed to The Sun: “We weren’t allowed to sell the carcasses because of wildlife trade problems. So all I could do was put them in the freezers. We had two freezers full of big cats.”
Terry revealed he sometimes euthanised the cats himself by placing them in a box before sealing a plastic bag over it and filling the box with carbon dioxide.
After the raid, he was charged and found guilty of four counts of animal cruelty and using animals for commercial gain without a licence.
The four counts were concerning a wildcat called Hamish, a Bengal called Jasmine, a jungle cat named Lily and a caracal. However, Terry was cleared of eight counts.
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