Woman Appalled by Manchester Zoo

By Katie Wiedemann, Reporter

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By Katie Wiedemann

Story Created: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:47 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 9, 2009 at 4:47 PM CST

Manchester - A Van Buren woman is appalled by what she calls unsafe conditions at that farm zoo.
Sheri Winter filed an official complaint with the U-S Department of Agriculture against the Cricket Hollow Zoo.
The privately owned zoo sits about a mile north of Manchester.
It's home to dozens of animals, including bears, monkeys, lions, and a camel.

A weekend trip to the Cricket Hollow Zoo turned out to be anything but enjoyable for Sheri Winter and her family.
Winter said, "We were all in tears on the way home."
Winter says the animals seemed sick and exhausted. She says it appeared they were not being fed. She says some had open sores.
Winter said, "No food and no water, bowls were bone dry and it was in the 80's that day."
But Zoo owner Pamela Sellner defends her care of the animals and says they get the water, food and medical care they need.
She and her husband run the zoo and it is licensed, regulated and undergoes yearly inspections.
Sellner said, "I think my animals are healthy, we are USDA inspected. We have a regular vet who does our health care."

The United States Department of Agriculture inspects the zoo at least once every year.
Online reports from 2006 and 2007 show notes of the zoo violating sanitation and housekeeping rules.
But the most recent inspection last August indicates no problems.
Sellner said, "They don't always see that there is an automatic water cup in all the pens some animals we do have to hand water. The majority of hoof stock and the big cats they all have automatics so those run fresh water 24 hours a day."

It certainly smells like a zoo. That's because there are several piles of feces. That’s just one thing Winter complained about. But owners say this is a natural way of life for these animals.

Sellner said, "The llamas you'll see dung piles they use community dung piles, so you'll see it stacked up in one or two places and that's what they do."
No matter what Sellner says, Winter is still heart-broken by what she saw at this private zoo.

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