The case involving the Natural Bridge Zoo will spawn at least three separate trials, some of which may not come until next year.
Confronted with a sprawling case that involves five defendants, overlapping charges and more than 70 animals, a Rockbridge County judge on Wednesday said he’s split the case into three trials: one against the three members of the Mogensen family that has owned the zoo, one against a former elephant handler and one against a veterinarian accused of forging a document related to Asha the elephant.
No trial dates were set, but the judge and multiple attorneys — so many that some of them had to sit in the spectator section of the courtroom — agreed to return to court on Aug. 3 to hear various motions. Trial dates, and the order in which the trials will happen, may be set then. Attorney Chris Kowalczuk, who represents zoo manager Gretchen Mogensen, said the trials will likely start later this year but some could spill over into 2027.
The logistics of the case occupied much of a two-hour hearing in circuit court on Wednesday. Kowalczuk said the complexity of the case rivaled that of some he’s seen in federal court. The state attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case, argued for a single case, which prosecutor Michelle Welch said she expected to take three weeks. Kowalczuk thought it might take two weeks. With three separate trials, it’s unclear how long each would take, although the lawyer for veterinarian Ashley Spencer said the case against his client could be dispensed with in a day.
At least seven defense attorneys were present in the courtroom, and there could be additional ones for a trial. They lamented that their clients would be disadvantaged in a single trial because not all the attorneys would be able to sit together at a a single defense table; the attorneys for Spencer and former elephant handler Mark Easley said the charges against their client comprise only a small part of the case against the Mogensens and a jury might be prejudiced against their clients if they had to hear unrelated testimony. Judge Christopher Russell agreed.
One humorous sign of the complexity came when multiple lawyers were standing up to join in a particular objection; one quickly sat down and whispered that he’d forgotten his client wasn’t charged on that count.
The judge also said he’d issue a gag order to prevent most parties involved in the case — including the attorney general’s office — from giving interviews.
The case began in December 2023 when the attorney general’s office — then under Jason Miyares — initiated a raid of the roadside zoo that seized animals as part of an animal rights investigation. A trial in March 2024 awarded custody of most of those animals to the state; the Mogensens were allowed to keep the rest but the zoo is now closed. In February 2026, a Rockbridge County grand jury indicted three members of the Mogensen family, the veterinarian and the former elephant handler on various charges. In all, there were 55 misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty; the veterinarian and two Mogensens were also indicted on felony counts of forging a public document.
A separate criminal investigation is underway regarding the zoo’s giraffes. While the other animals were moved during the initial raid, the zoo’s four giraffes were too big to move, and they have been the subject of separate court proceedings.
Two of the giraffes were also pregnant. During a state inspection in April 2025, the two females were found to no longer be pregnant but the offspring were nowhere in sight. That led to more court battles — with the Mogensens insisting that any offspring were their property — but the court eventually ruled the missing baby giraffes belonged to the state. The attorney general’s office opened a criminal investigation into their disappearance, and Gretchen Mogensen later served 100 days in jail for contempt for refusing to disclose their whereabouts.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Jay Jones announced that the baby giraffes had been recovered safely but gave no details on where or how they were found, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.
Starting in fall 2024 and ending in spring 2025, the state moved three of the zoo’s adult giraffes to the Georgia Safari Conservation Park in Madison, Georgia. (One adult giraffe died en route, which has also been the subject of an investigation because of the drugs it was administered before transport.) On Wednesday, the park confirmed that the baby giraffes are now there as well, but did not release any information on how they are interacting with the other animals.
In a statement to Cardinal News, the park said: “On Monday, June 15, Georgia Safari Conservation Park welcomed two juvenile reticulated giraffes, which were transferred to the Park via the Virginia Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit. Because this matter is part of an ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment on the circumstances surrounding the transfer or provide additional details at this time, other than to say that both giraffes are under the expert care of the Park’s expert Animal Care team and are acclimating well.”
