New Report Calls Out Groupon For Promoting Animal Exploitation

A new report is calling out Groupon for its role in promoting venues that regularly exploit animals.

Nonprofit World Animal Protection compiled the report. It claims to uncover Groupon’s role in helping “some of the worst captive wildlife venues profit from animal cruelty.”

The global e-commerce site helps to connect consumers with coupon deals. Most of these are for restaurants, spas, retailers, and hotels. But, according to World Animal Protection, “lurking” among them are tickets to roadside zoos, pseudo sanctuaries, and marine amusement parks.

Naming and shaming: venues that exploit animals

One of the venues named in the report is the Zoological Wildlife Foundation in Florida. The roadside zoo is owned by Mario Tabraue, a former drug trafficker who appeared in the controversial Netflix series Tiger King.

According to World Animal Protection, the zoo offers interactions with big cat cubs and primates. It has also been cited several times for animal welfare violations.

Another venue referenced in the report is the Miami Seaquarium. It states that this facility has a “laundry list” of animal welfare violations. These include “inadequate veterinary care, structurally unsound facilities, and inappropriate housing of marine mammals that resulted in injuries and deaths.”

Miami’s Zoological Wildlife Foundation, the aquarium chain SeaQuest, and Everglades Outpost Wildlife Rescue in Homestead, Florida also feature in the report.

World Animal Protection is now calling for Groupon to adopt a “comprehensive and public” animal welfare policy and stop selling vouchers to places that exploit animals.

The nonprofit states: “Every time Groupon sells one of these deals, it drives more people to buy tickets and then takes a cut of the sale price.” It added: “many reviews on travel sites noted that it was a Groupon deal that encouraged them to visit the venue.”