A seven-member jury was empaneled Monday in Rockbridge County Circuit Court to hear whether the state can seize 100 animals from the Natural Bridge Zoo.
The state, alleging mistreatment, seized 99 animals in a raid on the roadside zoo in Rockbridge County Dec. 6-7. The 100th animal is a capuchin monkey born to one of the seized animals in the interim.
In December, General District Judge Gregory Mooney ruled that 39 of the 100 animals must be returned to Natural Bridge Zoo, saying that the commonwealth had not proved that the animals had “been abandoned … cruelly treated, or [are] suffering from an apparent violation … that has rendered the animal in such a condition as to constitute a direct and immediate threat to life, safety or health.”
Both sides appealed his decision, setting the stage for this trial.
The court will hear opening arguments beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the second of four days set aside this week for the trial. Presentation of evidence and witness testimony will immediately follow the opening arguments. Circuit Judge Christopher Russell will preside over the proceedings.
Senior assistant attorney general Michelle Welch, director of the state’s Animal Law Unit, is the lead attorney for the commonwealth. Erin Harrigan, a Richmond-based attorney with the firm Gentry Locke, and Aaron Cook of Harrionsburg-based Cook Attorneys, represent zoo owners Debbie and Karl Mogensens. Debbie Mogensen was present in the courtroom for Monday’s hearing, but her husband was absent “because of health concerns,” Harrigan told the court.
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