BANDON, Ore. — Nearly a year after a dramatic multi-agency raid shut down operations at a controversial Oregon roadside zoo, the park’s owner has now pleaded guilty to dozens of criminal charges tied to animal neglect and a wider web of illegal activity uncovered during the investigation.
Brian Tenney, the former owner of West Coast Game Park Safari in Bandon, entered guilty pleas Monday to 47 charges. The majority stem from the treatment of animals at the facility, including 43 counts of second-degree animal neglect. Additional charges include reckless endangerment, delivery of methamphetamine, racketeering, and unlawful possession of a machine gun or firearm silencer.
The guilty plea marks a major turning point in a case that has drawn years of scrutiny from animal welfare advocates, state inspectors, and federal agencies.
Let’s stop sugarcoating this. The West Coast Game Park Safari in Bandon was not just a struggling roadside zoo. For years, it had been the subject of repeated warnings, violations, and growing outrage from those who said animals were suffering behind the scenes while the park continued to market itself as family entertainment.
In May 2025, Oregon State Police led a sweeping, four-day operation at the safari park alongside a coalition of local, state, and federal agencies, executing multiple search warrants following what officials described as a lengthy criminal investigation. What investigators found inside the facility was deeply troubling: malnourished animals, filthy enclosures, signs of shocking neglect, missing animals, and a dead tiger discovered stored in a freezer.
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Some of the most disturbing findings involved animals that were still alive. Oregon State Police released images showing a lion with visible ribs and spine, so malnourished it appeared skeletal.
Earlier USDA inspections documented similar conditions, noting lions and a black African leopard with decreased muscle mass and bones clearly visible beneath their skin. One report described a lioness confined to a dark, unventilated den covered in waste, while a chimpanzee was kept in isolation after losing its companion.
Investigators also found evidence of basic care failures across the facility. Animals were being fed from containers contaminated with rodent feces. Enclosures contained massive debris piles, rotting hay, and dangerous scrap materials. Officials noted that just one staff member was responsible for caring for more than 300 animals.
The scale of the operation quickly expanded beyond animal welfare concerns. Authorities uncovered more than 80 grams of methamphetamine, 44 firearms including a modified machine gun, and roughly $1.6 million in cash and bonds. Those discoveries led to additional warrants, and by the end of May 2025, Tenney had been arrested and booked on multiple drug-related charges.
The conditions were not just neglectful. In some cases, they were beyond saving. A young camel was found in such severe condition that veterinarians determined euthanasia was the only humane option, stating the animal would not survive transport. At least two other animals, including a chicken and a kinkajou, were also euthanized due to critical health issues.
In total, more than 300 animals were seized from the property, with some reports placing that number at over 310. Many were relocated to sanctuaries and licensed rescue facilities across the country, including several big cats transferred to a wildlife facility in Minnesota.
Among the rescued animals was a groundhog that has since become an unexpected symbol of survival from the case. Now living at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, the animal was introduced to the public and given a new name through community input. She is now known as Maple, and is adjusting to her new life far from the conditions in Bandon.
Long before the raid, concerns about the facility had been mounting. Federal records show the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected the park dozens of times over the past decade, documenting repeated violations. Between 2015 and early 2025 alone, inspectors visited the facility more than 30 times, with multiple inspections in 2024 highlighting deteriorating conditions.
In January 2025, inspectors discovered a dead tiger stored in a freezer alongside frozen turkeys intended as food for other animals. According to the report, the carcass had been there for months. Earlier inspections also flagged serious safety concerns, including incidents where members of the public were allowed direct contact with dangerous animals like a jaguar and a Syrian brown bear without proper barriers or trained supervision.
Animal welfare groups had long warned the park was operating under unsafe and inhumane conditions. Following the guilty plea, advocates say those concerns have now been validated in court.
“After years of starving and neglecting animals and imprisoning them in filthy, decrepit enclosures, Brian Tenney may now get a taste of what it feels like to be stripped of his freedom,” said Debbie Metzler of the PETA Foundation. “We urge the court to impose the maximum penalty.”
Tenney was originally indicted by a Coos County grand jury in August 2025 on more than 370 charges, ranging from animal neglect and unlawful possession of wildlife to reckless endangerment. The 47 charges he ultimately pleaded guilty to still represent one of the most significant animal neglect cases in Oregon in recent years.
Tenney is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20. For many in Oregon, the guilty plea brings a sense of closure to a story that had lingered for years. But it also leaves behind a difficult question that has followed this case from the beginning, how conditions inside the park were allowed to reach this point in the first place.
