Charlotte Metro Zoo (Macaluso, Steve)

USDA License #55-C-0002
4400 Cook Rd., Rockwell, NC 28138

Charlotte Metro Zoo 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 Charlotte Metro Zoo numerous times for failure to provide big cats with a veterinarian-approved diet, failure to maintain and clean enclosures, and failure to provide shelter from the elements. Animals from Charlotte Metro Zoo have escaped and caused injuries. Charlotte Metro Zoo has produced more than 100 baby animals and has sold animals, including lions and tigers, to area residents. Charlotte Metro Zoo prematurely removes infant animals from their mothers for commercial purposes. While the name may imply that Charlotte Metro Zoo is a government-subsidized municipal zoo, the facility is merely Steve Macaluso’s backyard menagerie of exotic "pets."

Animals in recent inventory: 82, including 10 macaques, 2 baboons, 2 chimpanzees, 5 bears, 30 big cats, 6 small exotic cats, and 2 wolves.

June 6, 2002: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct a previously identified violation of not providing environment enhancement for primates kept in solitary confinement. The isolated chimpanzee was observed exhibiting stereotypic behavior such as self-clasping. Charlotte Metro Zoo was also cited for failure to provide adequate veterinary care to a lion who died on May 4, 2002.

February 26, 2002: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct previously identified violations of not maintaining records of acquisition and disposition, including the death of a skunk, failure to provide four primates kept in solitary confinement with environment enhancement to promote their psychological well-being, failure to provide shelter from inclement weather, and failure to erect a perimeter fence. Charlotte Metro Zoo was also cited for inadequate feeding. The inspector wrote, “Adult cats are currently being fasted every other day.”

October 11, 2001: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for mishandling animals, failure to provide a veterinarian-approved diet to the big cats, and failure to have animal records available for the inspector to review. The inspector wrote, "Lion and tiger cubs do not have adequate space to get away from the presence of the public. Animals must be provided a rest period between performances (picture-taking). ... Animals currently are on display from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m."

August 9, 2001: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to repair shelters for the wolf and bear cubs, failure to record the deaths of a liger, a baboon, and a pigtail macaque, failure to have an environment enrichment plan for primates, including several primates kept in solitary confinement, failure to provide three tigers and a lion with adequate shelter from inclement weather, failure to provide a veterinarian-approved diet to the big cats, and failure to provide adequate separation between predator and prey animals for a Patagonian cavy kept in a small pen surrounded by leopards, jaguars, and bear cubs.

January 23, 2001: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for filthy bear, tiger, and chimp enclosures, a wolf den in disrepair, failure to provide tigers and lions with shelter from inclement weather, and inadequate drainage around the wolf enclosure. In response to a complaint, the USDA inspector asked Steve Macaluso if he had drugged young exotic felines exhibited at the Hickory Mall. Macaluso stated that he had not.

February 2, 2001: According to The News & Observer, primate experts criticized Charlotte Metro Zoo’s plans to send Sydney, a chimpanzee, to another facility where he would live in isolation. Chimpanzees are social animals and require the companionship of other chimps for their emotional well-being.

January 23, 2001: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for filthy bear, tiger, and chimp enclosures and a wolf den in disrepair.

December 14, 2000: In response to a complaint, the USDA asked Steve Macaluso if he had drugged animals used in photo shoots between September 19 and September 25, 2000. Macaluso stated that he had not.

October 10, 2000: According to the Salisbury Post, a 4-month-old leopard and a 5-month-old tiger escaped from a car when zoo owner Steve Macaluso lost control of his vehicle and crashed while returning from a photo shoot. The cubs were later captured.

September 17, 2000: According to the Salisbury Post, a neighbor complained to county commissioners when Charlotte Metro Zoo allowed Rodents R Us, a company that mass-breeds rats and mice to sell as snake food, to operate in a mobile home on zoo property.

August 11, 2000: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct previously identified violations of not having a veterinarian-approved diet plan for the big cats and not maintaining surfaces to allow for adequate cleaning.
The zoo was also cited for failure to have an environmental enhancement program for a 2-month-old Patas monkey. The inspector wrote, "Special considerations must be provided for infants and/or individuals housed that are unable to see and hear their own or compatible species."

July 16, 2000: The Salisbury Post reported that primate experts had criticized Charlotte Metro Zoo’s plans to remove a 4-week-old Patas monkey from her mother. According to Dr. Stephanie Ostrowski, an official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "As a vet, I think that’s misguided and really sad. The mother has obviously been a good mother for four weeks and deserves to keep her baby. … They are putting that baby monkey at risk. I think it’s sad and commercially exploitative. … Raising them with their own species is crucial to intellectual development."

The zoo intends to charge the public $5 to pose with the infant monkey for photos, despite the fact that monkeys can easily contract illnesses from humans.

June 15, 2000: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct previously identified violations of not having a veterinarian-approved diet plan for the big cats and not maintaining surfaces to allow for adequate cleaning.
The zoo was also cited for inadequate lighting in the primate building, for failure to have a perimeter fence around a tennis court enclosure to protect the animals from predators, and for a singing dog (New Guinea wild dog) shelter in disrepair.

March 16, 2000: According to the Salisbury Post, town officials in Spencer, N.C., considered enacting an ordinance banning dangerous exotic animals after a resident brought home a lion cub from Charlotte Metro Zoo and kept the lion in his home for several months.

July 29, 1999: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct a previously identified violation of having enclosures in disrepair.
The zoo was also cited for failure to provide cavies (large South American rodents) with adequate shade from excess sunlight, failure to provide a veterinarian-approved diet to the big cats, and failure to maintain surfaces and structures in a manner that allows for adequate cleaning to prevent the spread of disease and parasites.

February 4, 1999: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct previously identified violations of inadequate drainage and filthy enclosures.
The zoo was also cited for inadequate lighting in the primate building, for failure to provide the skunks with shelter from inclement weather, for failure to provide adequate security to reduce the potential of unauthorized entry to the chimp and baboon enclosure, and for enclosures in disrepair.

September 9, 1998: According to North Carolina’s Salisbury Post, Steve Macaluso vowed to fight a proposed ordinance regulating inherently dangerous animals that would require him to provide his animals with bigger, sturdier cages.

May 20, 1998: The USDA cited Charlotte Metro Zoo for failure to correct previously identified violations of primate, bear, pot-bellied pig, tiger, and leopard enclosures in disrepair and inadequate drainage and waste disposal.
The zoo was also cited for failure to have an adequate barrier to reduce the potential of human-to-animal contact, inadequate ventilation in the primate building in 93-degree heat, and a dirty kinkajou enclosure.

April 7, 1998: Two lions mauled a man as he was cleaning their cage. The victim was flown by helicopter to a trauma center to treat deep wounds to the back of his head, puncture wounds on his leg, and a laceration across his face. An animal control officer called to the scene reported, "There was blood all over." The lions had been hauled around to use as entertainment at Renaissance festivals.

September 24, 1997: According to Raleigh’s News & Observer, dozens of people spoke against the Charlotte Metro Zoo at the Rowan County, N.C., commissioners’ meeting, complaining about noises and their fear of escaped animals.

September 12, 1997: The News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., reported that a Small Claims Court magistrate ordered Charlotte Metro Zoo owner Steve Macaluso to pay a Rowan County woman $1,200 for damage caused to her vehicle by Sydney, the chimpanzee, during his April escape.

April 24, 1997: A chimpanzee named Sydney, who would pound on the bars of his cage and slam his fists against a metal barrel in frustration, pried back a steel bar on his cage and escaped from the zoo, scaring neighbors as he roamed free for a week. Animal control officers spent 115 hours searching for the chimp. When Sydney was finally captured in a neighbor’s yard and brought back to the zoo, he refused to enter his cage. To calm him, he was given cigarettes to smoke, junk food, and a soda laced with sedatives. As he was being returned to his 20'x20' cage, Sydney broke free and bit a television news camera operator twice on the arm. The bite went through the man’s wrist to the bone, severing tendons and damaging nerves; the photographer was permanently injured and suffered excruciating pain for a year.
The zoo was fined $750 by USDA.

1997: A zoo volunteer was bitten when she attempted to recapture a wolf who had escaped from a cage.

April 4, 1995: According to the Greensboro News & Record, officials with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission removed a cougar and a bobcat from Macaluso’s Hemby Bridge backyard because keeping the animals violated state wildlife regulations. Macaluso was later arrested and charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. Macaluso also kept a tiger, exotic birds, and macaque monkeys in cages behind his house. Neighbors complained that the animals posed a danger.

January 8, 1995: According to The Dallas Morning News, Steve Macaluso’s neighbors in Hemby Bridge, N.C., circulated petitions and threatened legal action because they feared for their children’s safety should animals escape from chain-link cages behind his house in the Country Woods East subdivision. Macaluso had recently added two tigers to his menagerie of exotic birds and monkeys. One of Macaluso’s macaque monkeys, who were sometimes kept tethered to a tree, had escaped twice and frightened neighbors.