Pius Princewill
Joe Exotic is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for multiple charges, including killing five tigers in 2017. Joe claimed the tigers were put down because they were “in pain” (via The Daily Beast), but multiple interviewees in the new Tiger King episode say that he regularly killed healthy cats at the G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.
Per Jeff Lowe’s chat with Joel McHale, Exotic “shot ’em in the head because he needed the cage space.” Rick Kirkham, who filmed a reality series at the zoo, said he saw one shooting happen simply because Joe “was pissed off at a tiger” who almost bit him. Kelci “Saff” Saffery also referenced these killings, claiming Joe often gave excuses about them to the staff.
Head zookeeper Erik Cowie said he was frequently responsible for helping out with these euthanizations. “A lot of times when we put cats down, they’d use me because of my appearance and my voice,” Cowie told host Joel McHale. “Those cats trusted me up until the end and somehow, sometimes, I swear they were like, ‘Dude, you let me down.’ I can see it in their face and in their eyes.”
Joe allegedly killed other animals, too. Kirkham recalled one alleged incident where Joe shot a horse someone had asked him to care for, saying, “I don’t take care of anybody’s animals. And now, they’re tiger meat.”
Written by: Nicki
