Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary has failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary numerous times for failure to provide veterinary care to suffering and dying animals, failure to provide environment enhancement to self-mutilating primates, filthy enclosures, failure to provide shelter from the elements, and failure to provide nutritional, wholesome food and clean water. Contact PETA for documentation.

 

Animals in recent inventory: 400, including lions, cougars, a tiger, a leopard, primates, bears, foxes, deer, goats, birds, snakes, and fish.

 

April 9, 2002: The USDA cited Octagon for failure to maintain the structural strength of enclosures in a manner that would protect the animals from injury and contain the animals and failure to have adequate perimeter fencing. The inspector also noted that several tigers were obese and in need of an exercise program and that a calcium supplement needed to be added to the diet.

 

October 18, 2001: The USDA cited Octagon for failure to have a responsible person available to conduct an animal welfare inspection.

 

September 13, 2001: PETA filed a complaint with the Office of Inspector General after learning from a whistleblower that the USDA had assigned a new inspector to Octagon, allegedly with instructions not to cite the facility for AWA violations, in an effort to justify an increased budget by erroneously demonstrating on paper that the USDA is bringing problem facilities into compliance.

After the USDA found a lengthy history of serious AWA violations at Octagon, newly assigned USDA inspector Richard Botelho Jr. found no noncompliances during five inspections between September 27, 2000, and June 6, 2001, including inspections conducted in response to complaints of dead and dying lions reported by Florida Fish & Game and complaints from zoo visitors about wounded and sick animals.

 

September 11, 2001: The USDA cited Octagon for failure to maintain the structural strength of enclosures in a manner that would protect the animals from injury and contain the animals and for inadequate drainage.

 

August 3, 1999: The USDA cited Octagon for failure to correct previously identified violations, including failure to provide veterinary care, environment enhancement for primates, improper food storage, filthy enclosures, and poor housekeeping.

     An emaciated lion with an abrasion on the right temple was in need of prompt veterinary care. Blood analysis first ordered on September 19, 1998, for a thin cougar who limps was not done.

     There was no veterinarian-approved diet plan for primates or carnivores.

     Flies were attracted to a leopard's raw, red wound where she had chewed the top of her tail. The left side of her face was also very swollen.

     An animal had a cut on the right temple caused from rubbing against a fence with sharp metal bumps.

     The inspector found the carcasses of a caracal, a cougar, and a lion cub in the food freezer.

     Octagon was cited for giving animals dirty drinking water and inadequate drainage in the animals' enclosures.

     A tiger had inadequate water for bathing to cool him from the heat. Goats were housed with a horse known to be aggressive. One goat was injured.

     There were piles of waste, garbage, and junk near animal enclosures and the food preparation area.

 

May 18, 1999: The USDA cited Octagon for failure to correct previously identified violations, including failure to provide veterinary care and shelter from the elements, filthy and poorly maintained enclosures, and improper food storage.

     A thin cougar and a fox suffering from recurring crusty eye were in need of veterinary attention.    A cougar previously identified as thin and in need of veterinary care died on January 2, 1999, without being monitored by a veterinarian.

     Octagon never followed veterinary recommendations to schedule an oral exam for another cougar previously identified as requiring medical attention. Mr. Caron (zoo owner) euthanized the cougar in April after his condition deteriorated. Caron stated that he used an unidentified "pink injectable liquid" to kill the cougar. The attending veterinarian was not aware of what substance Mr. Caron used or how it was obtained.

     Another cougar previously identified as needing veterinary care was markedly lame.

     A tiger was not receiving supplements recommended by the veterinarian.

     A baboon was found dead on January 25, 1999. A necropsy could not be performed, as the carcass was frozen and not brought to the veterinarian until February 11, 1999.

     The primates were in need of tuberculosis tests.

     The USDA cited Octagon for failure to have an environment enrichment program for the primates. A baboon "exhibits severe self-attack behavior and two new macaques are said to exhibit self-biting."

The inspector cited Octagon for what appeared to be a chronic failure to regularly remove garbage.

The inspector found the carcasses of one cougar and five tiger cubs in the food freezer on top of meat containers.

     Octagon was cited for feeding "foul-smelling and sickening" spoiled meat to animals.

     Octagon was also cited for feeding a nutritionally deficient diet to vervet monkeys, failure to include disease control and prevention in the veterinary care program, failure to have a knowledgeable veterinarian attending to chimpanzees, failure to have a sufficient number of adequately trained employees, and poor housekeeping.

 

June 18, 1998: The USDA cited Octagon for failure to correct previously identified violations, including failure to provide veterinary care and shelter from the elements, filthy and poorly maintained enclosures, and improper food storage.

     A grey fox was rubbing his anal area along the ground and biting and scratching himself. There were areas of hair loss. The inspector wrote, "This animal appeared stressed and irritated and needs prompt relief." An arctic fox was also scratching himself.

     Diarrhea was found in a pen housing three bears. Two thin cougars were in need of veterinary attention.

     A lemur who was found dead on February 4, 1998, was listed as having died of "natural causes," although no necropsy to determine the cause of death had been performed.

     Mr. Caron (zoo owner) euthanized a cougar under circumstances that did not appear to have been an emergency.

     A thin black leopard with generalized hair loss and skin lesions was in need of prompt veterinary care.

     A tiger had no water for bathing in 96-degree heat. Two tigers in another enclosure had inadequate water for bathing.

     Two black bears were panting heavily and in need of protection from the heat.

     Heavily furred arctic foxes were housed outdoors with insufficient protection from 100-degree heat.

     The inspector wrote, "The attending vet has not visited the facility since June 16, 1997, though the written Program of Veterinary Care indicates twice yearly visits. There have been enough veterinary issues at this facility to suggest that even the intended frequency is not sufficient."

     The zoo was also cited for failure to provide adequate shelter and protection from predators, failure to supply animals with clean water, and inadequate pest control.

 

December 28, 1997: A 6-year-old child visiting Octagon was attacked by a caged baboon, who pulled out chunks of her hair and attempted to bite her.

 

September 28, 1997: According to a USDA inspection report, a decayed cougar carcass was found in one of the pens.

 

December 1994: The USDA closed Octagon after it failed to renew its USDA exhibitor license in July and a pre-licensing inspection revealed more than 40 Animal Welfare Act violations. The inspector found a cougar's tail and a dead turkey next to a walk-in freezer, dead animals floating in a pond where animals drink, failure to provide environment enrichment for primates, inadequate food supply, and poor housekeeping.

 

July 1992: Garth, a hippopotamus, was found dead, apparently electrocuted by lightning.

 

October 1991: Garth, a 2-ton hippopotamus, escaped from Octagon and was found in a neighbor's yard. Garth was described as having been despondent since his brother's death in August.

 

August 1991: The bloated body of a hippopotamus named Percy was found floating sideways in a pond, apparently shot to death. The hippo's twin brother, Garth, was nudging Percy along with his snout and refused to let workers retrieve the body for 24 hours. The two hippos had twice escaped from the zoo since 1988 and charged around the neighborhood. A year earlier, vandals had shot an elephant. Leg wounds prevented the elephant from getting up, and he was destroyed. In January, a baby donkey had been wounded with "rat shot."