Guerilla Ryu

As you can see by the photos this zoo is unable to handle the animals they hold in cages. I cannot really put in to words how these animals are being treated. There was a Labrador Retreiver and a black bear in the same cage, the dog was scared to death. The two tigers were locked in a small cage with nothing to stimulate them, no grass, no hills, no trees, just cement floor and filthy water. These sort of things were evident in all of the animal cages. The one thing I saw that disturbed me the most that caused me to create this group was the monkey that is locked up in a cage about the size of a parking space. I just received an email from WSPA (the World Society for the Protection of Animals) and I realized this Monkey is still in that same cage and he has been there for 6 years. I found this website and it gives you a good look into what is going on there.
http://www.theguzoo.com/index.html

What you can do!
WSPA sent me an email with a prewritten letter to the MLA who is responsible for making sure our Roadside Zoos are complying with regulation. Please take the time to send off this email. I sent one off a week ago and I already have a response from my MLA saying he has received numerous letters and they are going to ensure monitoring over the next few months. The more letters he receives the more serious they are going to take this. Please take 2 minutes to send this off and help these animals. The link to the email website is:
http://www.wspa.ca/news.asp?newsID=113
If that does not work then go to www.wspa.ca and at the bottom right there is a link that says "Alberta government not enforcing their own zoo regulations". Click on that and it will take you to the right page!


The chinchillas were being horrible kept. They were being kept in mixed genders, and there were day old kits at the bottom. All they had for climbing was a plywood shelf, and the glue in plywood is extremely toxic. Many of the chinchillas had wounds on their ears and faces, likely from incompatible cagemates getting into fights.

Their shelves were filthy and covered in feces, obviously having not been cleaned in weeks. Some of the chinchillas were obviously skinny and most were missing patches of fur.

The misspelled "educational" sign on the cage stated that chinchillas cannot get parasites due to their thick fur, however, chinchillas are prone to mites.





A little girl who said her mom volunteered at the zoo asked if we'd like to see the baby red fox just inside the house. Of course, we said yes. This poor baby is being kept alone, having been taken from her parents to be handfed, in a bird cage...complete with a perch. She cried the most horribly upset noise I've ever heard as we left, obviously wanting comfort.




The filthy inside of the rabbit's shed. The floor was covered in feces and the urine was going up the walls.



half of the floor in the guinea pig pen was COVERED in inches of feces, which was basically acting as the guinea pigs substrate.



The Basset Hounds still wander the zoo, occasionally stopping to bark at and harass some of the caged animals. Allowing the dogs to wander from cage to cage increases the spread of disease and parasites.




The momma macaque has been separated from her mate, who is now housed in solitary confinement. Momma is with her baby, who can escape from the enclosure at will. He ran up to a visitor who asked "Does he bite?" to which Bill Gustafson replied "I don't think so!". Macaques are carriers of the human hepatitis B virus and the fact that this baby has free run of the zoo is extremely dangerous. Momma Macaque would get angry when her baby got out, and would hug him to her chest tightly as soon as he came back.

He ran along the raccoon cage, ran up to a Basset Hound and thumped it on the back, ran up the barrier fence and approached a visitor, before running back up the Raccoon cage, jumping down, and slipping through the gate.





This poor macaque is housed in solitary confinement with two predators, a serval and a pair of NGSD's, on either side of her. She has no climbing structure, enclosed shelter, an area for shelter, or enrichment of any kind (aside from a few cat toys). She spent her time pacing or wringing her hands at the bars of the cage.



The bear enclosure resembled a junkyard, with a rusting lop sided play set that bears of this size could never climb and random poles protruding from the ground. The bears are both very fat. They have no stimulation available and spent their time sprawled out or pacing. Their water container is far to small for them to swim in and the enclosure itself is tiny.

http://photos-e.ak.

The two male tigers had access to both tiger enclosures and Bridget the female was no where in sight. The tigers are unable to acheive a full range of natural movements such as running...the cage is separated through the center by a fence, so running is prevented. They have no climbing structures aside from the tops of their hides, and no enrichment. Their pools are both too small for swimming, which tigers love. The floor of their cage was littered with both fresh and old meat, and the shift area between the two cages was covered in hide, old meat, fur, bones, and limbs. The smell was sickening.



Two cougars inhabit this small cage, with absolutely nothing to do. These animals in the wild cover vast territories and are extremely agile and active. These two spent their time pacing the front, making the saddest little sounds, like a house cat. They were a sad sight.



These geese had no where to swim, both of their water tubs were filthy.




Poor max spent a lot of time rubbing a crusty piece of bread against a stick, trying to entertain himself with what he had.



The Baboon didn't come out of his small indoor area while we were there, but there isn't much for him to do outside; Baboons are primarily terrestrial and benefit in captivity from catwalks, wide branches, raised platforms, hammocks, etc. All he has are three identical tire swings and no enrichment whatsoever. He's also housed in solitary confinement.


The Barbary Macaques fancy new metal climbing gym is nothing but an old bunk bed. He wasn't seen using it once while we were there. He spent his time pacing or sitting in the door of his hide. He still has no branches, ropes, hammocks, or environmental enrichment whatsoever and he is being housed in solitary confinement.


This poor cockatoo, Elmo, is housed alone despite cockatoos being flock animals in the wild, never away from their chosen mate. The bars of his cage are made of zinc, and the zinc oxide rubs off on your fingers when you touch it. Zinc Oxide is EXTREMELY toxic to parrots and Elmo ingests it every time he climbs on the bars. This will undoubtedly lead to problems in the future such as kidney disease.

He has started over preening his feathers, a stereotypic behavior caused most often by boredom but often a variety of different environmental stresses. In cockatoos and parrots, it often leads to plucking.


This poor little guy spent most of his time trying to get bread from the ground in front of his enclosure. He would take a stick and try to pull it towards him. If he dropped the stick, he would show his teeth and beat himself in the face with his fists.



This animal (forgive me for not knowing what it is...) had a large abscess/growth of some sort right above his eye and overgrown hooves. Their enclosure was small and they had no pasture whatsoever.


This "Red Fox" cage contained a new guinea singing dog, I'm not sure if there were any fox in there as well. The cage has absolutely no natural features or environmental enrichment.



The bear enclosure resembled a junkyard, with a rusting lop sided play set that bears of this size could never climb and random poles protruding from the ground. The bears are both very fat. They have no stimulation available and spent their time sprawled out or pacing. Their water container is far to small for them to swim in and the enclosure itself is tiny.


Poor momma pig only has one piglet left, although pictures of her on the support group showed more. She was desperately protecting him, constantly trying to pile up what little hay she had in the corner. She received no food or what while I was there, for almost five hours.

She was missing a lot of hair and her eyes were red.



This lynx used to have a cagemate but is now alone. He spent is time pacing along the fence between the front of the cage and his hide box. His water was green with algae and old bones, feathers and fur littered the cage floor.




The indoor rabbit cages were small and most were overcrowded with babies. Although some were relatively clean, many were so dirty that the rabbits had no choice but to sleep in their urine and feces. They had no hay whatsoever and some had empty food dishes. They had no hides, no chews, nothing to do at all. All of the doors were unlocked for the public to touch them, but there was no supervision.


There were New Guinea Singing Dogs in cages throughout the zoo. Most of them had their kibble just spread out on the ground, leaving it susceptible to contamination by pests, moisture, bugs, and the dogs themselves.

The bars of their cages had a build up of feathers and fur from past meals and the cages were littered with random pieces of bone and meat of varying degrees of freshness.

Their water was filthy and green with algae.






The automatic waterer for the elk wasn't working and someone seemed to have dug a pit for their water, which was muddy and full of floating sticks.



The Capybara - (who naturally feed on grassess and aquatic vegetation) were treated to a pile of oats (?) and a box full of old produce.


The most heartbreaking thing was this monkey confined by himself in his cage littered with garbage.

He would grab a stick and use it as a tool to scrape the crusty bread outside his cage toward him.
When he would fail, he would sit back on his haunches, grimace and beat himself in the face with his little fist.


These capybara were kept with Canadian geese!
How authentic!

Capybara are also semi-aquatic animals who spend much of their time in water and can even hold their breath under water for over 5 minutes.
They got a puddle, a small tup for the geese and a tire.


The lion enclosure left a lot to be desired.
The two lioness and the male lounged around in their TINY covered cage which was caked in feces and decaying animal corpses.
There was a square climbing... block in the middle of their enclosure and a roof blocking out any sunlight they may want to bask in.

I'm not a lion expert, but I somehow think that these giant cats may need a little more space and stimulation.



This Japanese Snow Macaque was by far the most heart breaking animal at the zoo. She was uninterested, mostly, in what was going on around her. She would sit and stare at the ground, or at the sky, and pull at her hair with her feet and hands. She would gaze back into the sky and hit her head on the metal side of her cage. She grabbed at her tail, which was balding and seemed deformed. She is housed alone and displays such devestating evidence of depression and stereotypic behaviours brought on by isolation. Monkeys are extremely social and should NEVER be housed alone. According to the Gustafsons, she was BORN AT THE ZOO...why was she torn from her family, to be housed in isolation? Does that sound like something an animal lover would do? Not only are the back and sides of her enclosure solid, but the front is blocked off by the back of the 'warm barn', so the monkeys and cockatoo cannot see the action going on in the rest of the zoo. These animals are suffering from extreme deprivation.


The zoo was still giving out "Free Treats" to be handed out uncontrolled to the animals. They had signs up on a few cages, saying not to feed them, but people were seen throwing them bread anyways. The freezer was, of course, unplugged and much of the bread was moldy.


Before we left, we went into a building labeled "Al's Museum". It was full of junk...some of it labeled. Things such as embroidery scissors, dozens of dog tags, cookie cutters, a snake skin, etc...it reminded me of a hoarders home, that just can't throw that junk away. While looking out the window, we spotted something disturbing. We took these pictures from inside the museum, and did not trespass.
Carcasses...one, obviously a deer. There appears to be some rib cages and other assorted bits and pieces. I'm assuming that these were to be used as animal food. It is also possible that they had died at the zoo, and had been removed from cages. Either way, this is a completely inappropriate way to store carcasses, whether to be used as food or for disposal. Leaving them open in the sun, exposed to bugs, parasites, and allowed to begin to decompose.



   This is no way for animals to be housed, and its deplorable and heartbreaking to see such, however we are making progress.  Like i said before,
this is what you can do!
WSPA sent me an email with a prewritten letter to the MLA who is responsible for making sure our Roadside Zoos are complying with regulation. Please take the time to send off this email. I sent one off a week ago and I already have a response from my MLA saying he has received numerous letters and they are going to ensure monitoring over the next few months. The more letters he receives the more serious they are going to take this. Please take 2 minutes to send this off and help these animals. The link to the email website is:
http://www.wspa.ca/news.asp?newsID=113
If that does not work then go to www.wspa.ca and at the bottom right there is a link that says "Alberta government not enforcing their own zoo regulations". Click on that and it will take you to the right page!