Temple of Isis Ocelot Scandal
The Temple of Isis in California has been fined 60,000 dollars after five members of the Pagan spiritual group plead guilty to falsifying government paperwork and illegally selling ocelots for the past five years. The church used its religious nonprofit status to hide the sales as charitable donations.
“A significant part of the case with respect to views of the U.S. Attorney’s perspective is the falsifications and the effort to cover up the sale. The Temple of Isis is charged with selling endangered species, ocelots, to purchasers in Oregon, Florida, Minnesota and Texas illegally over the past five years and then conspiring with the people who purchased the ocelots to lie about the purchases to mask the fact that they were illegal sales.” – Dwight Holton, assistant federal attorney.
Not only is the temple’s actions illegal, but irresponsible according to Oregon Zoo, ocelot exhibit curator Chris Pfefferkorn.
“Though they’re not as big as a lion or tiger, they’re still a wild animal, and exotic animals just don’t make good pets…I think a lot of people when they see the babies think they’re really cute and as the babies grow up and become difficult to handle then they find themselves in trouble with the animal.”
It remains to be seen if the temple and their sanctuary can continue to operate after the 60,000 dollar settlement. More importantly it remains to be seen if Pagan and Goddess groups will continue to rent their facilities for events in light of these recent developments. At this point, the Temple of Isis and founder Loreon Vigne have not released any sort of statement on the matter. They have much to answer for and I hope they come clean not only to the law but to the religious communities that have supported their endeavors.
2 responses so far
Grr.
Like we don’t have a hard enough time.
I wonder, should I be in the majority (faith wise, that is) if I would be somewhat less inclined to live a “good” life.
As it is, I feel that I have to be a model. I have to act very good and be very nice not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because I may very well be the only pagan that some folks ever meet or even hear about.
My actions reflect on the whole pagan community.
I wish that they had considered that.
The Temple of Isis has not yet released an official response. Let’s wait to hear what they say before we condemn them for not representing us correctly.