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Jeff and Lauren Lowe of the now defunct Tiger King Park have been ordered to pay the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma $96,000 in fines by July 5, 2022.
The Lowes’ Oklahoma roadside zoo, formerly called Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, is closed. The facility was made famous on the Netflix show Tiger King. All of the animals have been placed at other facilities and the Lowes have been permanently prohibited from exhibiting animals to the public.
The fines are the result of the Lowes defiance of a previous court order in the lawsuit brought against them by the U.S. Department of Justice. The court order last year required the Lowes to immediately stop exhibiting animals, retain a qualified veterinarian for the animals, provide acquisition and disposition records for the animals and not acquire or dispose of any animals protected by the Endangered Species Act or the Animal Welfare Act.
On June 2, 2022, Judge John Heil III found the Lowes in contempt for violating the court order and ordered them to pay a fine of $1,000 per day for the 96 day period from May 14, 2021 to August 18, 2021, for a total of $96,000. If the Lowes fail to pay the fine, they could be facing jail time.
In September 2021, the Lowes were ordered to pay Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue $24,735.62 for damages to their Wynnewood roadside zoo property, which Baskin was awarded in a lawsuit. In December, the Lowes were ordered to pay Baskin $10,420.80 in attorney fees and costs.
In April 2022, the Lowes were ordered to pay PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) $183,557.90 in attorneys’ fees and costs for the animal welfare group’s successful lawsuit against the pair.
In total, Jeff and Lauren Lowe are now on the hook for more than $314,000 in fines and judgments against them.
Download the full court order:
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