Judge rules Cricket Hollow Zoo owners must give up tigers, lemurs.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Manchester zoo owners, sued for mistreatment and trafficking of protected animals, must turn over their lemurs and tigers to a licensed facility within 90 days, a federal magistrate ruled Thursday.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Jon Scoles in his ruling said Cricket Hollow Zoo owners, Pam and Tom Sellner, also cannot acquire any additional animals on the endangered species list, without first demonstrating their ability to care for the animals and receiving court approval.

Scoles stated in his 73-page ruling that the owner's violations are 'pervasive, long-standing, and ongoing,' and if the endangered animals were not removed from their care, then the violations would likely continue.

The Sellners were sued by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, an animal rights group based in California, for three violations of the U.S. Endangered Species Act — the unlawful 'take' of a protected species, unlawful possession of protected species and unlawful trafficking of protected species in commerce.

The animal defense organization stated it brought the lawsuit on behalf of five Iowa residents who had visited the zoo many times and who were 'distressed about the poor health and welfare of the animals.' The organization also received support from Elisabeth Holmes, an attorney with Blue River Law in Eugene, Ore.

'Today's groundbreaking decision creates a precedent for endangered animals living in captivity throughout the United States,' Stephen Wells, ALDF executive director, said Thursday afternoon. 'Too many zoos, roadside zoos, and private owners keep endangered animals, who have complex biological, social, and intellectual needs, in inadequate and squalid conditions. This is a major step in ensuring that we can move them into situations much better set up to meet their needs.'

The defense fund is now working to find the four tigers and three lemurs new homes in 'reputable facilities' that meet their needs as endangered animals, Wells said.

The Sellners didn't return a phone message left Thursday.  

The Defense Fund, during the trial last year in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, alleged the zoo's animals were confined to small and dirty cages and enclosures, were without 'toys or enrichment' items, that animals' hoofs or hygiene were not maintained, that animals were covered with flies and that food and feces were piled up for lengths of time.

Cricket Hollow Zoo

Gazette map by John McGlothlen

Documents in the lawsuit show the Sellners didn't act in 'good faith' in correcting USDA violations. The couple three times in 2014 and 2015 'failed to provide' inspectors with access to facilities, animals and records.

According to USDA records, inspectors found 28 incidents of non-compliance in four visits between July 31, 2013, and Jan. 9, 2014. Conditions described include inadequate watering and shelter, dirty facilities and the death of three piglets born to a Meishan pig left in the cold.

Scoles in his ruling said the social isolation, lack of environmental enrichment and inadequate sanitation provided to the lemurs constitutes 'harassment' within the 'taking' provision of the Endangered Species Act.

The tigers, also at the zoo, were 'harmed' by the failure to provide adequate veterinary care, and were 'harassed' by the failure to provide adequate sanitation, Scoles stated. Plaintiffs in testimony pointed out times the Sellners didn't have veterinary care. Between June 2013 and July 2015, five tigers died at the zoo. Three of those tigers died between the plaintiff's complaint filed June 11, 2014 and the time of trial on Oct. 5, 2015.

Scoles also cited testimony that no necropsy was performed on a tiger, Raoul, born in August 2012, who Pam Sellner explained had 'quick pneumonia.' She drove to a clinic in Elkader to get medication but Raoul died on June 13, 2013 without ever being examined by a vet.

Cricket Hollow didn't comply with its obligation to provide adequate veterinary care to the endangered tigers, Scoles said in the ruling. He said in the ruling there should be a program of adequate medical care so problems can be detected, and the zoo failed to consistently contact the veterinarian regarding animal health issues. When there was contact, it was usually Pam Sellner calling the vet and describing the animal's symptoms, and then a course of treatment was prescribed by the vet over the phone, without a physical exam, the ruling stated.

Pam Seller testified at trial she felt some of the violations were inconsistent and unfair or unrealistic but said most of the cited violations were corrected anyway.

She also testified about treating the tigers and lions when they had infections or other issues and said they two or three died in 2014. She said when USDA inspectors told her to have one of the tigers treated for an infection, she did. The tiger died about five months later, but it had developed pneumonia, she said.

The defense fund also asked the court to assess the costs of litigation, including attorney fees and expert witness fees, to the Sellners but Scoles denied the request.