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Animal Activists Keep Dirk Arthur And ‘Illusions’ Show On Radar

  When longtime Las Vegas Strip performer Dirk Arthur debuted the return of his show “Wild Illusions” at the Riviera Hotel & Casino, protesters with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were waiting.

With signs in hand and others in small cages, the group tried to gain support for a request to Riviera management to cancel his show.

Last year, Arthur was cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the size and condition of the cages for several of the big cats used in his show, as well as the illegal declawing procedures they had done.

Arthur owns a menagerie of endangered cat species, using seven of the black and white tigers and snow leopards in his show.  

“Dirk Arthur has been repeatedly cited for animal welfare violations, it’s not something that just happened one time,” said Delcianna Winders, deputy general counsel, PETA Foundation. “This is someone who has demonstrated they can’t properly provide for these animals.”

Other citations, she continued, included denying cats the access to proper veterinary care and keeping them in such small cages to where they couldn’t move around. As for the declawing procedures, Winders said Arthur is aware of its illegality and went through with the painful process anyway.

After the citations were issued, Caesars Entertainment pledged not to again host Arthur in his former show in Laughlin. PETA is asking the Riviera to do the same, and wants the animals moved to another reputable sanctuary in the country.

Dirk Arthur denied an interview with KNPR.

GUEST

Delcianna Winders, deputy general counsel, PETA Foundation
Copyright 2015 KNPR-FM. To see more, visit http://www.knpr.org/.

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