When veterinarians and law enforcement arrived at the Natural Bridge Zoo last month to execute a search warrant, they found fecal matter in food, untreated medical conditions and insufficient habitat for many of the 95 animals eventually seized in the raid, according to court testimony Tuesday.
Two of those veterinarians testified Tuesday at the Rockbridge County Courthouse in the continued animal neglect and mistreatment hearing against Karl and Debbie Mogensen, owners of the Natural Bridge Zoo. Tuesday afternoon’s hearing consisted of the testimony of Ernesto Dominguez and Samantha Moffitt, who participated in the execution of the state’s search warrant against the zoo on Dec. 6 and 7. At that time, Virginia law enforcement, led by Christine Boczar, a Powhatan-based investigator, seized 95 animals from the zoo and euthanized a white Bengal tiger that officials deemed too ill to recover.
Most of the seized animals have been rehomed around the country at zoos and wildlife parks; the Cincinnati and Oakland zoos took a number of them, and The Roanoke Times reported over the weekend that an African elephant landed at Two Tails Ranch in Florida. Four giraffes recommended for seizure are still at the Natural Bridge Zoo; the hearing will determine the future for those animals. (Updated, Jan. 10 to correct number of giraffes.)
Dominguez, the lead veterinarian for the commonwealth’s investigation, took the stand in the early afternoon for nearly three hours of testimony on the impoundings. Dominguez first recalled his reaction when he toured the zoo’s turtle and capuchin monkey facility.
“The first thing I noticed was … a really strong smell of urine and feces,” Dominguez said, continuing to describe food spread on the ground among feces, ill-suited “enrichment” in the enclosures, poor ventilation and inadequate water supplies for the animals.
The prosecution, led by senior associate attorney general Michelle Welch, then guided the court through the veterinarian’s inspection that day — exotic birds, lemurs, snakes and cats — asking Dominguez to detail the manner in which he and his team of veterinarians examined and determined which of the zoo’s animals should be seized. They began early in the morning of Dec. 6, he said, before 8 a.m., and carried the examinations through until after dark, moving some of the animals into the zoo’s gift shop for warmth, before concluding the following day. Much of the day, Dominguez said, focused on providing veterinary care for the animals. For those that weren’t seized, he testified, his team presented the zoo with action plans for their care.
After detailing each account of the seized animals, Welch asked Dominguez two questions.
“Did you recommend seizure?” Welch asked.
“Yes,” Dominguez replied.
“And were [the animals] being cruelly treated so as to be a direct and immediate threat to their health?” the prosecution followed up.
“Yes,” Dominguez said.
The Mogensens’ attorney, Mario Williams, was not in the courtroom Tuesday. The hearing’s second day was originally scheduled for Jan. 5, but Williams was ill, according to the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office, necessitating the delay. Harrisonburg attorney Aaron Cook led the defense in Williams’ absence Tuesday.
Cook began by establishing the timeline on the first day the warrant was executed, Dec. 6, and continued to question Dominguez on the zoo staff’s ability to care for the animals during the raid. He asked Dominguez about the staff’s demeanor when they were involved with the animals.
“They seemed concerned about [the animals’] welfare, correct?” he asked Dominguez, who answered that the staff did show concern and asked law enforcement for the ability to care for some of the more care-intensive animals, like exotic birds and cats.
Following Dominguez’s testimony, the commonwealth called Moffitt, another veterinarian who took part in the investigation. Moffitt, an expert on agricultural animals, described a similar process to Dominguez’s that resulted in recommendations for the seizure of sheep, donkeys, llamas and giraffes.
The hearing adjourned during cross-examination and will continue at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
