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Roadside Menageries and Traveling Tragedies
Roadside zoos run a deplorable gamut from small menageries where animals are kept in barren cages constructed of concrete and metal bars to larger collections with animals confined in compounds surrounded by chain-link fencing. They are usually privately owned and occasionally accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The focus is on amusing customers, rather than on meeting the needs of the animals.
For years, an Illinois menagerie called Land O’Lorin crammed more than 100 animals, including lions, bears, tigers, and primates, into small cages in the owner’s 5-acre backyard. On numerous occasions before it shut down, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors found dead and dying animals, a lack of veterinary care, filthy conditions, poorly maintained cages, insufficient shelter and space, and failure to provide food and water. Many of the animals exhibited stereotypic behaviors. A 6-year-old bobcat who had spent his entire life walking, neurotically, counter-clockwise in his tiny cell continued to pace in a 4-foot circle long after his rescue. A river otter previously provided with only a bathtub was unable to swim when he was sent to a more spacious facility.
The AZA-accredited Wildlife World Zoo, which features 1,400 animals "up close and personal" and boasts "Arizona’s largest collection of exotics," has a dismal record of neglect. During several inspections in 1998 and 1999, USDA inspectors found numerous deaths, animals in desperate need of veterinary care, and filthy enclosures. The emaciated carcass of an antelope who had died at least 36 hours earlier was discovered in a pasture. A llama without shelter from sunlight died of heat stroke. Three blackbucks and an emaciated zebra, frightened by storms and unable to escape to safety, died from running into fences. A camel, a llama, an antelope, a zebra, and a gazelle died from trauma-related injuries caused by housing them with incompatible animals. A dik-dik (small antelope) with a broken mandible that prevented him from eating died without medical care. The privately owned facility also sells surplus animals to a dealer who supplies hunting ranches.
Traveling zoos cart animals around to shopping centers, schools, fairs, flea markets, nursing homes, birthday parties, trade shows, television stations, and businesses in need of gimmicks to attract customers. Animals are repeatedly subjected to stress associated with transport, alien environments, irregular feeding and watering, handling, and crowds of strangers. The animals are considered expendable, and children’s safety is sacrificed for a $10 photo.
A PETA investigator, traveling with Klass Act, found a baboon left crammed in a crate that prevented her for days at a time from standing upright. Two 1-week-old tiger cubs were in poor condition when they were picked up at an airport. One was motionless, and the other cried for her mother. Instead of receiving immediate veterinary care, they were displayed at a mall. The listless cub died two days later. Bridgeport Nature Center, a big-cat breeding mill that offers a show that is described on their web site as "fun for all ages," remains in business despite three separate attacks in which tigers mauled a 4-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, and a teenager during photo ops at fairs.
Novelty Nightmares
The MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas built a lion cage so that visitors
could observe a small pride of lions through glass walls. Three Bears Gift
Shop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, sells food to the public so patrons can feed
its Himalayan bears, who pace constantly in tiny, filthy pens. A chain of
Illinois hardware stores exhibited solitary monkeys—who had gone insane
from isolation—in small cages to amuse customers. An Indiana tattoo parlor
displays caged tigers in the shop’s windowless basement. A Texas grocery
store keeps a collection of zebras, bobcats, and wallabies to attract customers.
Ivan, a gorilla captured as an infant in 1964, spent 26 years in a concrete
and Plexiglas cage as a department store attraction in Washington state. Baylor
University in Texas dumps its older bears and buys new cubs every two years
to parade around as mascots during sporting events, storing them in a pit
between games. These animals spend a miserable lifetime as curiosity displays
and are often dependent on caretakers with little knowledge of their specialized
needs.
Drive-Through Prisons
On the surface, drive-through wildlife parks look like havens. But while a collection of baby animals attracts customers through the front gate, animals are quietly shipped out the back gate by the hundreds, exacerbating the booming trade in exotic species.
Lion Country Safari in Florida advertises that it "provides a habitat in which many endangered or threatened species live and reproduce." They reproduce so well, in fact, that the park keeps animal brokers busy taking the excess. Lion Country Safari has sent newborn lions to a broker, endangered Brazilian tapirs to a private collector who sells to hunting ranches, chimpanzees to a dealer who advertises them for sale in the Animal Finders’ Guide, and endangered Indian pythons to one of the nation’s largest pet trade wholesalers. Bear Country U.S.A. in South Dakota sends bears to slaughterhouses for butchering and sale to the exotic meat trade. Wildlife Safari in Oregon sends exotic hoofed animals to a dealer who sells them at auction. Six Flags Wild Safari in New Jersey has sold surplus baboons to a firm that supplies animals to biomedical researchers and sends exotic hoofed animals to die at hunting ranches. Hostetler Wildlife Farms in Missouri sells surplus animals, including camels, zebras, baby monkeys, and giraffes, to any interested parties.
Animal care is often lacking at game parks. In one three-month period, 26 animals died at Six Flags Wild Safari. During a 10-month period, 564 animals died at the now-defunct International Wildlife Park in Texas. Causes of death have ranged from neck and skull fractures to hypothermia, tetanus, pneumonia, infection, and drowning.
Pseudo-Sanctuaries
Many roadside and traveling zoos operate in the guise of nonprofit sanctuaries, preying on people’s sympathy while exploiting the animals in their care. Sadly, animals rescued from one tragic situation are sentenced to another when they end up in pseudo-sanctuaries. Some "rescued" animals used as fund-raising lures may actually have been purchased or bred. Facilities may accept unwanted exotic "pets," promising to give them a home, and then sell the same animals for a tidy profit during frequent trips to auctions where a trailer-full of old exhibit animals are sold and new ones are bought. Nonprofit 501(c)(3) status is no indication of whether a facility is truly a sanctuary or not. Some substandard facilities are run by well-meaning individuals who take in more animals than they have space or funding to provide for. If animals lack adequate care because of mismanagement or unrealistic goals, additional funding is not likely to correct the situation.
For decades, the Chimp Farm in Florida promoted itself as a nonprofit sanctuary dedicated to the care of aging and abused nonhuman primates. The farm was actually a decrepit roadside menagerie that bred 58 chimps, five orangutans, and an unknown number of monkeys. While most remained at the zoo, some were sold to circuses or laboratories. Even by the minimal standards of the Animal Welfare Act, the enclosures were too small, filthy, and rusty, with jagged edges that could hurt the animals. After PETA and local activists filed numerous complaints about the deplorable conditions, the USDA finally revoked the Chimp Farm’s license and fined the owners $25,000 in 1998.
No genuine sanctuary would make a bad situation worse by engaging in or condoning commercial activities such as breeding, buying, selling, and exhibiting animals. The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS), an accrediting organization that requires member sanctuaries to observe a strict code of ethics and exceed the minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act, receives calls to place hundreds of wild, exotic, and farmed animals each year, ranging from primates to pythons, from cougars to cattle. They come from roadside zoos, research institutions, and failed attempts to make pets of wild animals. Legitimate sanctuaries throughout the country are filled to capacity with the neurotic misfits produced by substandard operations.
Petting Zoo Blues
Health experts warn that petting zoos are notorious for infecting children with potentially lethal bacteria. In September and October 2000, as many as 61 children became infected with E. coli during a visit to Merrymead Farm, a petting zoo in Pennsylvania. In July 2000, five children contracted E. coli after visiting a petting zoo in Washington state. In August 2000, health officials suspected that contact with petting zoo animals at the Medina County Fair in northeastern Ohio had sickened 34 people with E. coli. In 1999, approximately 160 people came down with intestinal illnesses after touching petting zoo animals at the Western Fair near London, Ontario.
According to the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, multiple bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents have been associated with animal contact. In September 1998, an estimated 380 children developed salmonellosis after visiting a Denver zoo—most of them became sick after touching a wooden railing around an animal exhibit that was teeming with bacteria. Earlier in 1998, a 5-year-old child became so ill with salmonella that he was hospitalized for three days after petting animals on a school field trip at a Michigan petting zoo called the Critter Barn. Seven children from another school also became ill after visiting the zoo, and several animals at the zoo tested positive for salmonella bacteria.
Disease Outbreaks Associated With Petting Zoos
Children who visit petting zoos often bring home more than their parents bargained for. Health officials indicate that petting zoos are hotbeds of serious pathogens, including E. coli and salmonella bacteria. Numerous children have been severely sickened as a result of visiting animal displays, and some have even died. Those who come in contact with E. coli can develop bloody diarrhea, anemia, chronic kidney failure, or neurological impairments such as seizures or strokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), kidney failure can occur and dialysis and transfusions are sometimes necessary. Some who are sickened by E. coli bacteria must undergo surgery to have part of the bowel removed. Petting zoos across the United States have been responsible for sickening visitors—most of them children. According to the National Association.of State Public Health Veterinarians, multiple bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents have been associated with animal contact. Experts warn that infections can spread through direct or even indirect animal contact; the area surrounding the animal's cage can be teeming with bacteria, and children can even bring it home on their clothing.
| August 2009: Officials banned pig displays at Vermont’s Caledonia County Fair over fears of H1N1 flu. April 2009: Michigan health officials confirmed a case of swine flu in a woman who had visited a Texas petting zoo while on vacation. October 2008: Beaufort, South Carolina, health officials investigated several confirmed cases of E. coli. Two infected children had visited a petting zoo before falling ill, which prompted the zoo’s closing. September 2008: A 3-year-old South Dakota boy who suffered kidney failure after contracting E. coli had to be flown to a Minneapolis hospital for treatment. The boy’s parents believe that he got sick after visiting a traveling petting zoo. August 2008: The Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo in Washington implemented rules prohibiting visitors from having any contact with baby chicks at the children’s zoo in order to prevent transmission of salmonella or E. coli infection. Food and drink were also banned inside the barns. The fair’s director said, “We’re just trying to protect the public’s health.” February 2007: A capuchin monkey was found dead on the property of a Chesapeake, Virginia, petting zoo operator, prompting the state to impose a quarantine over fears of tuberculosis. A second monkey died a few weeks later. State health officials re-tested the petting zoo, which was called Spellbound, in May 2007, and reinstated a quarantine of the entire facility. October 2006: The parents of a 2-year-old girl who allegedly suffers from permanent kidney and pancreas damage after getting sick following a visit to a petting zoo at the North Carolina State Fair in 2004 sued the petting zoo and its owner. The girl fell ill shortly after visiting the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo. She was hospitalized for a month with complications that included kidney failure, pancreatic failure, and blood-clotting problems. The lawsuit alleges that the child’s kidneys now work at about 50 percent and that her pancreas has stopped producing insulin, requiring constant monitoring. January 2006: The parents of a 6-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy who caught a potentially fatal strain of E. coli from petting goats at the 2005 Florida State Fair filed suit against the fair authority and the exhibitor. The girl was hospitalized for approximately eight days and received three blood transfusions. Her doctors feared that her kidneys were going to fail. The boy, while potty-trained, had to be put back on diapers because of severe diarrhea. The family had already spent about $25,000 on the children’s medical bills. August 2005: Three people contracted E. coli after attending the Clark County Fair in Vancouver, according to Washington health officials. One was hospitalized. June 25, 2005: The children's petting zoo at the Toledo Zoo was closed indefinitely after three animals tested positive for campylobacter, an infectious bacteria that causes gastrointestinal illness. |
April 8, 2005: An outbreak of E. coli bacteria in Florida was definitively linked to animals from petting zoos at three fairs. Twenty-six people were confirmed stricken with E. coli infection, including 23 children. Epidemiologists matched DNA from E. coli bacteria in six animals―two goats, two sheep, and two cows―to the DNA in the bacterial contracted by the victims. The six animals were all from the same company, Ag-Venture Farm Shows. September 9, 2004: Although vaccinated, a horse kept in the Phoenix Zoo’s petting area died of West Nile disease. A bird at the zoo died of the same disease earlier in the year. No vaccination is available to prevent the mosquito-borne virus in humans. November 7, 2003: A 3-year-old girl and a 79-year-old man died after a 1999 outbreak of E. coli at the Washington County Fair outside Albany, New York. About 1,079 people were infected and 65 were hospitalized. In 2003, a class action lawsuit filed by 122 victims was settled for $4 million. September 10, 2003: Twenty-two people were hospitalized, including 12 children who developed kidney failure, after being infected with E. coli at the 2002 Lane County Fair in Eugene, Oregon. It was thought that the bacteria made contact with visitors' hands by way of the dust in the sheep barn. Eighty-two people were sickened. August 16, 2003: The Philadelphia Zoo closed two petting areas after two children, ages 3 and 5, who visited the zoo came down with E. coli infections and had to be hospitalized. August 27, 2002: An E. coli outbreak in Oregon, the largest in state history, sickened as many as 42 people who visited animal displays at a county fair. Four children were hospitalized, including three who had to be put in intensive care. July 23, 2002: Three children had to receive kidney dialysis after being infected with E. coli. Health officials suspect that the children were infected after visiting a New Zealand petting zoo. January 23, 2002: A 4-year-old girl had to undergo a kidney transplant after contracting E. coli at a petting zoo in the Philadelphia area. The girl was one of 16 children sickened in the fall of 2000 after visiting the facility. The girlís parents have sued the owners of the petting zoo. |
October 25, 2001: An E. coli outbreak at an Ohio county fair sickened 41 people. August 16, 2001: At least 25 people, including two children who became gravely ill, were sickened by E. coli infections after visiting a county fair in Wisconsin. Two hundred people reported symptoms associated with the outbreak. July 27, 2001: After an E. coli outbreak sickened 67 children at a petting zoo in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the Bethlehem Health Department issued strict regulations for petting zoos, including a prohibition on direct contact with animals. July 2001: In response to the CDC's report on E. coli outbreaks at petting zoos, the New York state Department of Agriculture issued recommendations for petting zoos, including the recommendation that hand-washing stations be made available to patrons, in an attempt to increase safety. The same month, the Washington State Department of Health also developed guidelines for petting zoos. April 20, 2001: The CDC reported in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that 56 people, mostly school-children19 of whom were hospitalized?were sickened with E. coli after visiting two petting zoos?one in Washington state and one in Pennsylvania. April 19, 2001: An Associated Press article stated that "about 70,000 cases of E. coli infection are reported in the U.S. annually, about 100 of them fatal. Transmission usually comes through food and water, but exposure to animals is also a significant risk." November 7, 2000: As many as 21 children were infected with E. coli after visiting a Pennsylvania petting zoo. Two children, ages 3 and 4, had to be put on kidney dialysis. The petting zoo operatorsí 4-day-old son died two months earlier from a different strain of E. coli. June 9, 2000: Four children became sick from E. coli after visiting a Washington petting zoo. Another contracted E. coli from a sibling who had visited the zoo. August 30, 1999: As many as 650 people may have been exposed to rabies after having contact with a bear cub at an Iowa petting zoo. Several of these people had to undergo rabies vaccines. The bear cub later died of the disease. April 8, 1999: A Michigan petting zoo was sued after a 5-year-old child became ill from a salmonella infection after visiting the facility with his school. The child?s mother reported that the child lost 8 pounds and had to be hospitalized. Seven children from another school were sickened with salmonella after a trip to the same petting zoo. March 24, 1996: At least 50 people were stricken with a particularly virulent type of salmonella after visiting a petting area at the Denver Zoo. Eight of the victims had to be hospitalized. |
Unhappy Holidays for Nativity Scene Animals
Numerous incidents make clear the sad fact that animals used in this type of display are a magnet for abuse. Brighty, a donkey used by a church in a Nativity scene in Harrisonburg, Virginia, was savagely beaten by three young men. Brighty has been fearful of people since the attack and now refuses to socialize with other donkeys. In Richmond, Virginia, an attack by dogs on animals used in a church Nativity scene resulted in the deaths of three animals. A camel named Ernie was killed by a car in Maryland. In yet another Nativity tragedy, a sheep in Bedford, New Hamphire, was stolen and slaughtered.