Animal lovers please read!!!

[snake_girl]

I am here to tell all of you a heartbreaking story of animal anguish in hopes that you will lend me your support with the hard task I am faced with.

At the beginning of my 2nd semester of grade 12 I started my co-op classes I was thrilled when my co-op teacher informed me of a special co-op she thought would be perfect for me. The co-op placement was at a “Zoo” called The Lickety Spilt Ranch. I was very excited and quickly did what was necessary to get the interview. The first day I went to the Ranch was for the interview I had no idea what I was in store for. The second time I came to the Ranch I was shown around. This so called Zoo was in horrible horrible shape. I had to lie my way in to the co-op thinking if I had an inside view that I would be able to put a stop to what these animals have to endure.

At the zoo right now my main concern is the Tigers Ziggy and Casper. Yes they are hand-raised tigers but they are grossly over weight and living in a pen no bigger then a large back yard. There is no form of entertainment and their watering hole is a kitty pool to sizes to small. I am in no way an expert but I have been to many zoos small and big and this is the worst that I have ever seen.

Then there is the wolf, when we neared the wolf pen my first question was is that it? Is that all the room this creature gets? Of course I kept my questions to my self but watching that poor thing pacing back and forth back and forth was heart breaking.

When we entered the heated barn for the monkeys I wanted to cry. Now I’ve done the whole volunteering and behind the scenes stuff at the Sandiago(SP?) Zoo, Sea World and the wild animal park plus the Toronto zoo when I was 14 and I was told a number of times how all monkeys alike need mental stimulation and entertainment. In the winter these animals are kept in tiny pens with nothing for them to swing on nothing for them to play with. If you live in Canada you know how long our winters last and how long they are kept in there.

If you want further information on this please email me. I am in no way an expert at zoo keeping. But it is my desired future career and all the information I have stated has come from professionals.

To be fare I will leave you the URL to the lickety split Ranch.
http://www.geocities.com/licketysplitranch/

I will also give you the report from a little organization called Zoo check that they did on Lickety split Ranch it is very informative. And even though it was a few years ago things have not changed the way they should have. http://www.zoocheck.com/programs/zoocheck/Lickety.shtml

Why I have posted this, is for your support in this matter the Zoo is located in London Ontario and if you visit the web page you will be shown how to find it. Go and see for you self what its like for those innocent animals. If you would like to help me please email me or respond to this thread so that I can add your name to a petition to have the zoo terminated and the animals given to willing zoos and better homes.

Thank you very much for your time in this matter and if you disagree with me please be polite in you response
Grace.

[Lisa]

Wouldn't going there be supporting the ranch with money? Why would I want to provide support to a company that is abusing animals.

[snake_girl]

because its the only way to view the animals and there habitats and the only way to put my words into prof you could just drive buy but you won't see much

[fr0glet]

I'll sign your petition against the keeping of these animals in small spaces. I won't visit their zoo.

Also, my dear, your .sig is the worst outlook on life I have ever seen!!

[Kaiti]

that sounds horrible! and with a name like lickety spilt.... even the name is bad.... if you have a coop there, how often to people visit? and is the care of the animals the fault of negligence or of lack of funds? either way, something needs to change, but if its negligence, there is a bigger issue there. i will sign your petition as well, and i also have family and friends in london who im sure would be willing to help out. ill pass this along.

kaiti

[Kaiti]

hmmm.... actually let me revise that..... i wasnt able to get into the site before, but now that i did, i dont know if i particularily want to say that i would sign a petition for them to be shut down, perhaps to meet some better standards... but from the pictures on the website, the enclosure seem to need some modification. i do agree whole heartedly about the wolf tho. and just to be fair, as it is a family run zoo, they probably (and you can correct me if im wrong, im simply guessing) do love the animals even if they cant afford bigger housing, and how would you feel if someone all of a sudden decided you shouldnt keep them? maybe some renovations are instore, but lets not be too hasty to condemn.

kaiti

[snake_girl]

yes the owners in there own way love the animals and it is a family run zoo but these animals need more then the owners love. They have made a lot of money off there tigers (in a mazda chermical) and do have the money to up grade the incloser but instead they have chosen to make the park bigger. meaning more exotic animals kept in the same tiny inclosers.

don't be fooled buy that web page these people love there animals but the frist question i was asked at my interview was "what are you veiws on animal rights" If I had told her how i really fealt I woudn't have gotten the co-op. Now that means she knows that she's not doing somthing right and is trying to avoid it being brought to the serface.

I don't have the co-op any more because I don't like to lie about these things and it was just not somthing i felt right doing.
I'm not trying to be mean to these people I think if they kept there zoo open that it would be better suited for farm animals like the lamas and there raccons.

its not fare for these animals... even if they are loved.

Grace

fr0glet
Yes I know my sig in depressing but its funny to. :)

[HyGhBr|d]

i will sign the petition but not to shut it down but to have them do some enclouser mods., i like the idea of zoos it gives ppl a chance to view these wonderful animals.....tho i believe there should be major guidlines in having this animals in a "zoo"

[Nicky]

Call the cops or humain society or a local zoo to come check out thier livening conditions and maybe they can be shipped to a real zoo like the toronto zoo i would recomend calling first human socirty so they can shut the zoo down and then calling other zoos to take in the other animals i'll sign your pedition. thats hprrible i hate when people mistreat animals
i'm gonna get the human society number for you ok but you should call them and tell them what you;ve seen

Best of luck i'm backing you and so is everyone else

[Linds]

You can add my name to the petition as well. Lisa brings up a valid point as well. I don't see how anyone needs to (or wants to for that matter) see this first-hand, there is more than enough evidence in both your post and the accompanying links to support the complaints. So sad, I often wonder how these places even come to be and last for any length of time :confused: Anyhoo, good luck with your mission, I hope it all works out for the poor animals....

[katev17]

There's a zoo similar to this just outside where I live.. It's called the Papanack Zoo and while I visited, I was sick when I saw the conditions... They had 6 or 7 lemurs in a SMALL cage... they had a striped hyena that lived in an extremely small enclosure... his 'hide' was a cement block and when I asked the keeper if he even had any water, he told me there was a dog bowl somewhere around ... and then he went to feed the hyena and threw the food right at him, hitting him several times in the head.

So I know what this zoo could be like, and just to those people who think that the pictures on the website don't look so bad, I'd like to remind you of the many ways to manipulate a photo lol.. the Papanack brochures make the park look very nice, but it was very, very sad.

If you truly feel that this zoo cannot be fixed, or continue to be in operation then I will definitely sign the petition! :D

Kate

[snake_girl]

Thanks everyone for your suport

your right linds and Lisa you are right in not wanting to visit or see the park but some people just can't picture what I'm saying as being real until they see it. out of sight out of mind.

They've already been asked to up grade there park for safty reasons because it was very easy for the tigers to jump the 6ft fences. now its about 8ft and theres an electric fences that the tigers get shocked on when ever they rub against the posts.

The Humain socity won't do anything as always but I'm sending in a letter to WSPA (world society for the protection of animals) because they are haveing a world wide search on inhumain zoos so i'm hoping they might be able to help me. I'm also trying to get a hold of Zoocheck to see if they would be will to help me in this mission.

thanks agian everyone and Kate I hope maybe if we get things rolling for this zoo we might be able to help you out with yours unless its already been taken care of. I'll keep everyone posted!!

Grace.

[snake_girl]

okay I just got an reply to an email I sent to Zoo Check here is the copy of my email his:

----- Original Message -----
From:Grace mmmm
To: zoocheck@idirect.com
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 11:36 AM
Subject: Just wondering


My names Grace Malone,

and I live in london ontario. I saw your report of The Lickety Split ranch and I've seen the horrible living conditions first hand and I was wondering if anything was going to happen? I have many people willing to fight to see this zoo shut down or improved.

please email me back asap, thank you for your time

Grace Malone

his reply:

Dear Grace:

Thank you for your email. We're aware of the problems at Lickety Split and would be interested in supporting a local campaign to get the place cleaned up or closed down. Please send me your telephone number and I'll give you a call about it. Thanks again.

Rob Laidlaw
Director

I'll let you know when we've contacted again. Thanks agian for the people that are supporting this
Grace

[snake_girl]

okay I just got an reply to an email I sent to Zoo Check here is the copy of my email his:

----- Original Message -----
From: Grace mmmm
To: zoocheck@idirect.com
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 11:36 AM
Subject: Just wondering


My names Grace malone,

and I live in london ontario. I saw your report of The Lickety Split ranch and I've seen the horrible living conditions first hand and I was wondering if anything was going to happen? I have many people willing to fight to see this zoo shut down or improved.

please email me back asap, thank you for your time

Grace Malone

his reply:

Dear Grace:

Thank you for your email. We're aware of the problems at Lickety Split and would be interested in supporting a local campaign to get the place cleaned up or closed down. Please send me your telephone number and I'll give you a call about it. Thanks again.

Rob Laidlaw
Director
__________________________________________________ __
I'll let you know when we've contacted again. Thanks agian for the people that are supporting this
Grace

sorry about the double post I tryed deleting it but I don't know how

[marylyn101]

Oh mY GOD!!! How can they do that to them. they look all so unhappy. As an avid lover to exotics and my love i would never ever have so much mud! the water hole for the tigers is soo atrociece(sp?) i would get an inspecter and get those animals the hell out of there.

[snake_girl]

Thats what I'm trying to do I know the water hole was filled up because of bactria. so know they have a kitty pool which isn't any better.

Grace

[David]

Be careful who you support. Zoo check has a very radical agenda and would like to ban the keeping of exotics altogether. That includes our hobby.

[snake_girl]

i know I've contacted them about that before and made it clear that I do not support all that aspect. but they are still willing to help me with Lickety split and I need all the help I can get. I'm going to do what ever I can to help these animals but I'm in no way going against owning Reptiles as pets. besides I need help and so far they are the only ones willing to give it. what would you do?

Grace

ps: they have however helped resuce many animals and have worked with WSPA which is a wonderful organization.

[David]

I'd still have a problem supporting anyone who was that radically opposed to the Herp hobby. His aims are noble but totally misguided in my opinion. Just my 2 cents

[boa]

i will sign the petition aswell the houses look like **** there. the fences don't even look great are they even high enough i would have this place shut down a.s.a.p and find a better zoo for those anaimals. i am close enough to this place i should go have a word with the owner to put a stop to this.i am not happy with the way the are raising those beautiful anaimals.>(