A judge in Rockbridge County will have to make sense of two very different views of the Natural Bridge Zoo: Was the zoo a hotbed of abuse and neglect, or was it a well-run roadside attraction?
Wildlife and zoological experts testified for the zoo Wednesday, wrapping up a three-day hearing to determine the fate of 95 animals law enforcement seized from Karl and Debbie Mogensen’s zoo in December. With final arguments due in writing Friday, Judge J. Gregory Mooney indicated he may rule next week.
Six witnesses — five expert witnesses on care of various animals and Gretchen Mogensen, manager of the zoo facility and the daughter of its owner — described a vibrant zoo environment at the Rockbridge County attraction, with animals described as in ideal or near-ideal condition, diligently cared for by zoo staff, in sharp contrast to the picture painted by the commonwealth’s witnesses the day prior.
Proceedings were often interrupted by objections and sidebars with counsel and Mooney, who reminded the sides to stay within the scope of the hearing.
“This is about the hundred animals,” he said.
The zoo’s attorneys spent the day attempting to show the court that the zoo’s animals were not mistreated or provided inadequate care, while the state, led by assistant attorney general Michelle Welch, focused on the fact that none of the five expert witnesses were present at the time of the Dec. 6-7 law enforcement raid that resulted in the commonwealth’s seizure of the animals. All of the experts came from out of state, and Welch also questioned each of their knowledge of Virginia animal welfare law.
Gretchen Mogensen was the last witness called to the stand. She recounted the day last month when law enforcement was waiting for her as she arrived at the zoo early in the morning. The zookeeper said the conditions law enforcement found at day’s start was not indicative of typical conditions because the animals had been unattended overnight.
“It’s like leaving children in a room,” she said of the morning mess described by state witness testimony. “There’s going to be feces on the floor … and there’s going to be food.”
Mogensen also testified that she and her staff were unable to provide the animals with their routine care because of the raid. The care would normally begin in the early morning hours, but Mogensen testified that on Dec. 6, her staff didn’t get access to the enclosures until mid-afternoon.
“We were trying to get an entire day done in a matter of a few hours,” she said.
Mogensen also took the court through the zoo’s typical veterinarian care process. Natural Bridge Zoo uses Lexington-based Blue Ridge Animal Clinic and veterinarian Ashley Spencer for its primary care, and Mogensen said she has weekly contact with Spencer, who she testified visits the zoo “a couple times a month.”
The majority of the day was spent with the expert witnesses. Lisa Dadone, a Colorado-based giraffe expert, led off the testimony. A paid consultant, Dadone said she first examined Natural Bridge Zoo’s four giraffes Jan. 3 and returned two subsequent days. She set up cameras to monitor the giraffes at times, such as overnight, when she could not observe their behavior in person.
Dadone testified that, based on her observation at the zoo and interactions with the animals’ handlers, the giraffes’ diet was “in line with what the zoo community does now.”
“I don’t see a clinical impact or a health risk to them,” she said. “They seem comfortable.”
Dadone also spoke to the presence of body parts — a giraffe head, two tails and three legs — in the zoo’s freezer.
“These are not bioartifacts that are out of the ordinary,” she said, noting that body parts of deceased animals are often kept frozen for future study or uses in the zoo.
Similar testimony came from the other four expert witnesses. Corrie Connolly, a North Carolina veterinarian whose expertise is in hooved animals; William Peratino, an aviculture expert who lives in Florida; Ken Alfieri, a reptile and amphibian expert in Massachusetts; and Peter Brewer, a veterinarian and owner of Southwick’s Zoo, also in Massachusetts, took the stand as well.
Connolly testified to the seizure of donkeys, llamas, sheep and a dog by the state last month. Law enforcement justified the seizures at least in part due to fecal samples showing parasites in the animals’ digestive systems, but Connolly downplayed that justification.
“It’s more acceptable [than in other species] for those types of animals to actually keep a number of parasites,” she testified, noting that the type of test the state ran on the stool samples showed only the presence of parasites rather than the scope.
Peratino, the bird expert, lauded the zoo’s enclosures for the parrots, macaws, cockatoos, hornbills, and kookaburra seized in the December raid, saying that he had inspected Natural Bridge Zoo “about a week and a half ago.” He said much of the stress law enforcement observed in the animals was likely caused by the raid itself.
Alfieri, the reptile and amphibian specialist, said his inspection of the zoo’s husbandry techniques was “spectacular” and lauded the animal habitats.
“This is a healthy group of animals,” the former zookeeper said. “… I don’t have any concerns.”
Brewer, who owns the Massachusetts zoo, admitted that determining an animal’s welfare was “a hard thing just by looking at a photo,” but echoed the previous witnesses’ testimony that much of the animals’ stress in the raid was a product of the operation itself.
“I did not see anything out of line,” said Brewer, who has not visited Natural Bridge Zoo.
Written final arguments are due to Mooney by 4 p.m. Friday.
