CWI Demands Sanctuary for Animals and WINS!

July 3, 2023

CWI is thrilled to report that the big cats formerly held captive at the The Mirage Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas have been sent to two Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries accredited facilities in Oregon and Texas.

You may recall that The Mirage (now owned by Hard Rock International) announced in November 2022 that they were doing away with the "Secret Garden" portion of their resort where numerous big cats and dolphins were being held.

This enormous success was achieved after numerous years of campaign work by CWI and local animal advocates in Las Vegas. We regularly protested The Mirage in front of their property on the Las Vegas Strip, encouraged visitors not to stay there, created petitions, sent emails, captured video of the animals, appealed to the USDA, and even ran a mobile billboard informing tourists about the inhumanity of animal captivity!

The situation was extremely complicated as the animals present on the property were owned by different entities. Sadly, some of the dolphins were on loan from SeaWorld and have returned there. We are extremely grateful, however, that Siegfried and Roy Productions heard our pleas for sanctuary and made the kind and humane choice to send the many tigers, lions and leopards who lived on the Vegas Strip to appropriate facilities.

CWI Executive Director Carrie LeBlanc shared, "We thank the thousands of individuals who joined our protests and took action for the animals who were confined at The Mirage. This enormous accomplishment would not have been possible without the involvement of our community of caring animal advocates. The tremendous success in Las Vegas is also a sign that the use of animals in entertainment is failing across the country. It is time to end the exploitation of all exotic animals and to treat them with the respect they inherently deserve."

Enjoy some photos of our campaign captured over the years!