theguzoo

Please Stop the Hate

2012-01-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Dear GuZoo followers and supporters. It has been brought to my attention that dialogue on forums and various social media has become increasingly bitter, to the point where threats and hate comments towards those who oppose the GuZoo have been uttered.

Back in March/April of 2011, as a result of a hate and smear campaign launched by CAAWPS I received over 3000 hate emails in the course of 6 days. 500 of those emails where documented by the RCMP as legitimate threats to our health and safety. I am not going to bore you with the details of describing the emotions myself and my family felt as a result of those numerous threats. I hope you can imagine the insecurities we experienced. That whole episode was something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

We at GuZoo are very proud that we have cultivated strong bonds and mutual love and respect with those whose lives we have impacted. Without your support, encouraging words, and prayers, we would not find the fortitude to continue. But, I implore you, for our sake, please mind your words, sensor your thoughts, and refrain from doing or saying anything that would promote the same feelings of fear and insecurities we were subjected to last spring.

We are all human, with passions and sensitivities. We need to be mindful and respectful of other people’s opinions and beliefs. Please treat others as you would like to be treated.

Thank you.

Animals for profit???

2012-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

I realize that Irene's last post may have been taken the wrong way. The fact is that poaching is wrong but the truth is in some countries the people are very poor and to them it seems like the only option they have.

I am a member of the SCI. Yes that is a hunting organization that is very into conservation. At a fund raiser they held, I learned a very valuable lesson about poaching and how it can be stopped. While sitting at our table a gentleman started talking about cheetah hunting so I listened to his story. When he was finished I asked him, how can you be allowed to hunt cheetahs? They are endangered. He replied they were until the land owners who would shoot Cheetahs on sight because they threatened their livestock, suddenly realized they could make money legally selling hunts for them. So the native people stopped shooting this “pest” animal and saw financial gain in protecting and increasing cheetah numbers. He then told me that the cheetah is now making a great come back. This is an example of how the drive for money actually conserved and helped a species.

Now if we go back to the tiger poaching, many of the areas where tigers are found are communist and the people own nothing. This means the management of tigers by selling hunts isn’t an option for them. Now I know I will get shot down for this comment, but before you start shooting, realize that one action was hugely responsible for the cheetahs come back. Please realize that the Guzoo does not support poaching and we realize that many animals are wiped out due to it. Just try for a moment to put yourself in the shoes of that poor man in that communist country and try to imagine his pain as he witnesses his children in a constant state of hunger. As well, before we condemn that man and other like him, let us first clean up our country by getting rid of the ones killing our children by supplying all of those dangerous drugs on our streets.

Now, to address the accusation that we only operate a zoo to make money. Think about what you are saying. How long does a business that does not make money survive? How long do you think we can care for our animals with no income? As with any business, we have operational expenses that need to be paid. And like any hard working citizen, we have the right to feed our children, buy them birthday gifts and send them to soccer club. Because our income is derived from an animal related business instead of a clothing store, or tire shop, we are not entitled to an income? If that is what you call exploiting animals then I guess we are guilty. However, the ones who are truly guilty of exploiting animals are the ones who take pictures of our animals and put them on their websites and solicit the public for money to promote their cause. We have had legitimate photographers come and take pictures of our animals and use them to make money, but they paid us for this privilege. Such honest income helps us to feed and care for our animals and gives us a livelihood. Does that make us bad people? You decide.

Bill {Irene’s husband}

My Comment on a Comment

2012-01-19T01:49:00.000-08:00

I need to address a comment that was sent to me today on this blog, a comment I cannot post because of its derogatory nature and I have children who read this blog. In addition, the commenter didn’t sign his or her name and I will only post comments by those who are not afraid to put their name to them.

This person made it quite clear that he/she feels animals should be treated the same as people. There were accusations made in the comment and contempt and hate oozed from the words.

I understand that people feel very strongly about animals, I was once of the mentality the same as these animal rights people, that animals are better than people and they deserve equal treatment if not better treatment than that allotted to humans. So I understand where this commenter is coming from.

What changed my way of thinking? Well, I grew up, I became more involved in the business aspect of animal ownership and I began to put myself in the shoes of people whose livelihoods depended on an animal, either dead or alive.

I will never forget a conversation I had 11 years ago with who would now be my Mother-in-Law if she was still alive. I commented how terrible it was that tigers were poached by native citizens to sell into the Black Market. Her reply was, “do you begrudge that man for killing that tiger when in doing so he can feed and house his family for a year. Would you take that away from him? Can you honestly tell him he shouldn’t kill that tiger, and rather let his family starve?”

I was young and didn’t have a family to feed and I, like most of lower middle class people, have never known a day of hunger. But I sat there speechless at that reply. It was then I began to put the value of animals into perspective. Even I, an openly proclaimed animal lover, couldn’t condemn a man for wanting to feed his family…even if it meant the life of a beautiful wild tiger. Don’t get me wrong, I still had internal conflicts with this realization. I still tried to rationalize a reason for that animal to live. But ultimately, that conversation changed my whole outlook on life.

And you know what? It was very liberating. I no longer felt weighed down by self-perceived notions of animal abuse or injustice that I felt the world was full of. Bull fighting, dog fighting, wild elephant culls, the seal slaughter, dolphins in tuna nets, bile bear farming, and the dozens of other examples that I felt were terrible, terrible things and worse still, I could do nothing about. I came to realize these were no longer my burdon. As I began to see the positive side, the humanitarian side of the equation, the tragity didn't seem quite so huge. Yes, the animals are still affected. But the way I precieve the issue has changed. Does this mean I don't care about animals? Not at all. You wont find me hitting a baby seal to dealth. But I don't hate the person who does do. He is trying to feed his family also. Nor will I engage in any campaign to stop that person from killing baby seals, unless I am willing to pay that person's salary for the rest of his life.

I do what I can. I don't buy seal skin boots and I do buy Dolphin safe tuna. And I wont condemn anyone who does otherwise, and neither should you.

So to address certain accusations and questions made by this commenter, I would say this. Do we make mistakes? Sure we do. Are we guilty of neglecting and abusing our tortoise? I will admit we are guilty of not treating that tortoise as a human being. But I don’t think that tortoise would want to be treated as a human any more then I want to be treated as a tortoise.

Do we feel singled out and targeted? Are we crying foul in regards to the way we have been treated by our governing authorities? Yes, I guess we are. Because we make it no secret that we treat animals like animals we offend the people who believe otherwise. These offended people have lots of time to hound our government into submission who turn on use because we are the “escape goat”. The government is of the mistaken notion that if GuZoo was gone, people would stop hounding them. But the very day after SRD ordered GuZoo closed last June, a certain animal rights group out of Edmonton cheered and said,” yes! We got GuZoo! Now lets go for Doug’s”. And after Doug, who? And where does it stop?

Yes, Devon our Tortoise has a new enclosure that all will be welcome to see when we open in April. But I know it will only be a matter of time before the animal rights people find something terribly inadequate with it. Why? Because it is not about the animal. It is about principalities.

Devon The Tortoise Was Stolen

2012-01-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

So, jumping the gun, the Alberta SPCA contravened the very act they are gifted by the government to enforce and stole the tortoise. Yes, I say “stole’ because the Animal Protection Act states very clearly under what circumstances a peace officer under this act may seize an animal.

A link to the act is here….read it for yourselves.

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/A41.pdf

The Peace Officers presented Mr. Gustafson with a seizure notice and proceeded to capture the tortoise. Mr. Gustafson demanded to know why they were taking Devon and they replied, “to determine if the tortoise is in distress or not”. They had been told by a visitor that is was.

If you read section 3 of The Act, you will notice it says,

Powers of peace officer

3(1) If an animal is in distress and

(a) the owner or person in charge of the animal does not

forthwith take steps that will relieve its distress,

The Officers who took the tortoise that day admitted they didn’t know if the animal was in distress or not.

The Act only allows a peace officer to seize an animal if it IS in distress, NOT to take it and test it and drill holes in its shell to SEE IF it is in distress.

This is exactly what the Alberta SPCA officers did.

In addition, paragraph (a) states: ….does not forthwith take steps that will relieve its distress,

This means the owner must be given a notice and a time frame to correct a suspected infraction of the act before the Officers can seize an animal.

One of the same officers who stole the tortoise that day attended the GuZoo to inspect Devon the tortoise only four months previously. On site at that time it was agreed by the officers that the tortoise indeed had a heat source, UV source and proper food and was in adequate health. The Officers indicated there was no distress on the part of the tortoise and no action was ordered to be taken. I was there, I witnessed this whole charade.

Then four months later the officers seize the tortoise (based solely on the word of an anti-Guzoo spy . Kind of suspicious in our minds.
Mr. Gustafson, for the sake of non-confrontation, relented to allow the SPCA to take Devon to the Calgary Zoo for examinations, so long as it didn’t go past the day they promised to return it. Well, it did. On the day the SPCA failed to return the tortoise as initially promised, Mr. Gustafson called the police. He told the RCMP he wanted the SPCA charged with theft. The RCMP Sergeant called the SPCA officer named on the seizure notice…and guess what? The tortoise was returned the next day by a different peace officer we had never seen before. It would seem the officers who stole it didn’t have the fortitude to admit defeat…they let some lower ranking officer do their dirty work.

The SPCA knew they didn’t have a leg to stand on, they knew full well they didn’t follow proper protocol. Perhaps they thought we wouldn’t call their bluff.

All the Anti-Guzoo people blamed the Animal Protection Act and its poor definitions, when it fact, the tortoise was returned because it never should have been taken in the first place.

To this day, we have no examination report, no test results, nothing from the ASPCA about the health of our tortoise. (Oh, they did fax us a recommended care protocol for the tortoise).

Was Devon in distress? Obviously not. Was Devon stolen? Most definitely, and Ken Dean knew it all along. Once the RCMP got involved they were sure quick to return it.

Devon the Tortoise

2012-01-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well where do we start? I guess first let’s talk about what happened to Devon, our Sulcata Tortoise. We need to get this out in the open. A high profile animal rights group messed up big time…and as a result they are being investigated as I write this.

Did you know?

Devon the tortoise has a shell condition that is very common among captive raised Sulcata Tortoises. It is believed this condition is caused by an inadequate diet. The only physical evidence that this condition exists is displayed in the appearance of the animal’s shell. The individual pleurals and vertebrals of the shell become raised to form points, known as pyramids. The decree of pyramiding is dependent upon the severity of the dietary deficiencies over time. It is understood that this condition is for the most part irreversible.

It needs to be noted that Devon came to GuZoo already afflicted with this condition. We are not by any means saying that Devon was incorrectly treated by her former owners. But this is a good example of how more education needs to be made available to would be exotic pet owners on how to properly care for these unique reptiles.

Did you know?

This past fall, some anti-GuZoo people took some photos of Devon our tortoise, edited them to make them look like Devon’s shell had SERIOUS deformities and gave the deformity a fancy name. They sent these photos to the Alberta SPCA telling the officers they are tortoise experts and can tell by this photo that the animal is in distress.

Did you know?

Devon the Tortoise was stolen?

GuZoo is going to start talking

2011-12-27T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hello readers, thanks for tuning in. My blog and web site has been silent these past few months. However, that is going to change. Stay tuned. GuZoo is going to start speaking out.

Closed for the Season

2011-10-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever in the 21 year history of GuZoo, we will be closing for the winter season.

Devon our tortoise has been returned. To avoid such malicious, unjustified occurrences, we will be

CLOSED UNTIL PERMIT RENEWAL --- APRIL 1, 2012.

If you have purchased a family pass this spring or summer, you are still welcome to visit this winter by appointment only.

Media tells all

2011-07-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

Ezra Levant tells it like it is

Check out video 1

Check out video 2

Are Zoos For People Or For Animals?

2011-07-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

I have my own thoughts on this but wanted others to offer their opinion. Are zoo to exist for the benefit of animals or the benefit of people? Can they benefit both without harming either group?

GuZoo Has Been Reopened!

2011-07-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

As of today, the doors of the GuZoo Animal Farm are reopened to the public.

Defining Animal Abuse

2011-07-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

Trying to understand animal rights people.

It is human nature to want to surround yourself with things you like. If animal rights people like animals, it would seem logical to conclude they too would want to be near animals. That probably means own pets, or pasture buddies. In an effort to protect animals from would be animal abusers, the animal rights people lobby the government to pass laws that limit ownership or at the very least expressly dictate how each animal is to be considered adequately cared for. Surely these people understand that they too will be subjected to the same laws they insister are passed.

Regulations are being slowly passed that are defining just what constitutes animal abuse. Husbandry practices that have been accepted for decades are now being labelled as animal abuse. Thanks to animal rights groups who perceive abuse in all manors of things, pet owners and livestock farmers could find themselves serving jail time because house cats were allowed to catch and eat mice. Or ranches will be walking the plank because they allowed their cattle to drink out of a dug out.

How Animal Right people perceive animal abuse.

Is a dog that is offered food out of an old cooking pot experiencing abuse while the dog who is fed out of a stainless steel bowl not? Is one of these dogs more loved than the other? Is a dog that is given straw for a bed less cared about then a dog given a fluffy cotton dog bed bought at Costco?

Can the design and shape of a water bowl measure to what degree an animal is being abused? If a horse is offered water out of plastic rain barrel instead of a store bought galvanized steel water trough, is it abused? What if the horse was offered water out of a discarded bath tub? Should the owner of that horse be charge with neglect and abuse?

What if an owner gave oats to a horse by sprinkling it on the ground? Maybe you would say that the proper way to feed oats is in a bucket or feeding trough. Either way, the horse is getting oats. Is it abusive to ask a horse to eat oats off the ground? I know some would say yes. We have been told here at the GuZoo that our deer and elk should be fed grain in a trough raised off the ground. Apparently some believe that asking the deer to reach to the ground is cruel. Someone should tell this to all the wild deer and elk out there.

Some people believe that feeding commercial dog food to ones pet dog is not in the best interest of the canine. Some say dogs should be feed raw meat and bones with diced up fresh veggies. There is a huge movement towards fresh dog food; whole isles are being devoted to it in many of the large pet food stores. Yet, GuZoo is criticized for feeding raw meat and bones to lions, tigers and wolves. Go figure. I am trying to understand. Maybe people would be happy if we fed Ol’Roy or Iams to Walace our lion.

In the wild both the grizzly bear and the cougar have been documented feeding off dead animals such as a deer or elk. Unable to consume the entire carcass in just one meal, the predator will cover the carcass with grass and sticks to conceal it from scavengers and return to feed day after day until it is all consumed. Yet accusations of health risks to Guzoo animals have been raised over rotting decaying carcasses in our carnivore enclosures. I believe that animals rights people find dead carcasses abusive to their eyes, so they insist it must violate the animals in some way as well.

I think it is time to finally challenge the ideologies that project human values and truths onto animals.

We don’t consider the water from a stagnant hole in the ground consumable for humans, so society believes that it is abuse to force an animal to drink out of it. Never mind that this has been a common practice for decades, even hundreds of years in the domestic cattle industry, and I haven’t heard that bovines are on the endangered list, wiped out from generations of drinking out of a dug out.

We don’t expect our children to eat off the floor, so people consider it inappropriate to think animals should eat off the ground.

Humans would get sick eating meat that was left exposed to the elements and flies for days at a time, so we assume it must make animals sick as well. Animal rights people would argue that animals can and should only be feed food fit for human consumption. Do otherwise, and they would cry animal abuse.

Humans don’t like to bath in dirty water, so proper husbandry suggests that captive animals should be given nothing less than crystal clear water to submerse in as well. Anything less, is abuse according to animal rights people.

We don’t lock our children in cages, so keeping an animal in a cage is abuse.

We don’t eat off dishes that haven’t been sterilized through a dish washer, so we imagine that it would be unhealthy for animals as well. People who project their values onto animals are of the mind that forcing animals to eat out of less than clean dishes is abuse.

People are encouraged to used antibacterial soap, and surface cleaners in their homes. This ideal is projected onto husbandry practices for house pets and farm animals. Society is leaning towards the opinion that failing to sterilize food prep areas, cages, or storage facilities is poor husbandry practice and boarders on abuse.

People in North America don’t like to see dirt in their house or in their front yard; they want smooth clean floors or carpet and a blanket of evenly cut, weed free grass outside. This is what makes people happy, so this must be what animals like and what makes them happy. Some people believe that housing animals on dirt floors or ground surfaces is abuse.

We don’t like to see our feces inside or outside of our dwelling space or even sitting in the toilet, so we project this repulsion onto animals and consider an animal that has poop in its living space poorly maintained and thus abused. Forgetting that poop is commonly used by animals to communicate a great variety of things to other animals. Some animals even use poop to birth their babies in.

We as human are very susceptible to cold exposure so we assume that all animals must be as well. Forgetting that compared to humans, many animals have much better coping abilities to tolerate both extreme heat and cold. But many would argue that any dog left outside in the winter is abused. Or in our case, a tiger laying on snow must be suffering.

Many people with pet dogs bathe them and brush them regularly, so when they see a farm dog dirty with tuffs of winter hair half shed out they assume the dog must be neglected and abused.

We feed twinkies, pop and red liquorish to our own children, yet cry abuse when one feeds bread and cinnamon buns to goats.

In conclusion, I would like to say that if someone wants to feed their dog out of a sterilized, stainless steel bowl, offer filtered water, feed only food fit for human consumption, supply a soft cushy cotton fabric bed, groom and bath him regularly, and clean is poop up the moment he defecates, all the power to you. But don’t holler animal abuse when the next person doesn’t want to supply those luxuries.

Get with the program people. Animals are not and never have been people. They have different needs and abilities. Sure they feel pain, and yes we have a responsibility to care for and respect them. But it was never God’s intension for people to revere animals with the same high regard as people. This is not God’s plan. Animals have their place and their purpose. Sometimes that purpose is to feed people, sometimes that purpose is simply to bring joy into the lives of people. Animals can heal a broken heart, offer companionship and safety. But always remember they are animals, not people. God’s gift to us, to love and care for, but NEVER to raise up to be equal with His most favoured creation….Mankind.

Irene

Irene's rant

2011-06-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Irene’s Rant

It has been nearly a month now since we have been forced to shut our doors to the public. At first it was a difficult adjustment, but we are getting used to it…in fact we have even found a few advantages.

Although we miss the interaction with the visiting public, we find that getting our daily chores done is not under time restraints anymore. We no longer have to hurry and get the jobs done before the crowd arrives.

My kids have been enjoying the hot weather and in fact were able to run around our yard and even into the zoo butt naked. There was no one to care, no one to judge. Kind of nice actually. I felt envious of them really.

We have much more family time. As the women of the house, I think I am probably the only one who notices or cares.

But it also gives us lots of time to contemplate the injustice we have been subjected to. For instance, it seems odd to me that in the two months up to the date they shut our doors to the public we were subjected to 9 inspections from various departments of the Alberta government including Fish and Wildlife, ASPCA, Alberta Health Authority and Sustainable Resources and Development to name a few; and not one gave us a report indicating we had violations, infractions or deficiencies. Then, one inspection was done by an out of province agency and BOOM. We were shut down, declared unsafe for animals and people and suddenly a disease risk for everything living thing on the planet.

Wow. Boggles the mind doesn’t it.

Lynn, Bill and I shake our heads at these so called animal lovers who pressured the government to close our doors. What did they REALLY think would happen to the animals? They have no idea what it is like finding homes for exotics. They think you just ship them away to a rescue or sanctuary like it is as easy as finding a home for a house cat. Well, we all know about the million of house cats in shelters all over North America waiting to either be adopted or euthanized. If homes can’t be found for all the common felines, where do these people get off thinking there will always be homes available to lions and tigers and cougars?

We have a snow macaque, a adolescent male who can’t be housed with his troop because he could breed with his mom. So we have been hoping to re-home him to another place where he can have a troop to live with…however…we have been looking for a home for him for three years. No one will have him. We even approached ZooCheck to help us find him a home and they indicated they wouldn’t. That is just one example. Tigers can’t be shipped spur of the moment down to the USA because of CITES, the same for any of the endangered animals housed here. Bears on the other hand are a dime a dozen. There are hundreds of orphaned bears each year and any zoo who wants bears can easily acquire one. That was how we got our bears. But zoo are up to their ears with bears. There is no place for our bears to go. The same can be said for our raccoons, coyotes, foxes and wolves.

If there are any animal lovers who are reading this then this is for you; the solution is not closing places like ours down, the solution is creating more zoos and sanctuaries to house orphaned wildlife, or unwanted exotic animals.

Of course our animals here are properly taken care of, but if you are of the mind that we are not doing it right; for the sake of the animals you shouldn’t be trying to close us down. You should come here, get involved and share your ideals of how you would like to see these animals cared for. What difference if the animals live behind bars here or you send them to some place to live behind bars somewhere else? They are still behind bars, they are still in cages and they are still captive animals being used for public display.

The world needs more animal sanctuaries, not, in our case, one less.

Just my rant.

Irene

Feeding time at GuZoo

2011-06-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

No animals Leaves Guzoo

2011-06-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

So, after the ASRD telling Lynn he has 60 days to re-home his animals, now the Alberta Agriculture department steps in and tells Lynn nothing is to leave the property until they test everything for disease. All of a sudden, we are told that everything at the GuZoo animal farm is a disease risk to both people and animals.

Lynn had homes lined up for 5 wolfs and 3 lemurs and was hoping to ship them today, June 16, only to have Alberta Agriculture tell him no.

Time is short, we were only given 60 days to decommission our zoo, on day 7 into decommission all efforts on our part to rehome animals were ordered to stop today. I can only imagine how long it will take to capture, take blood and fecal samples from nearly 400 animals, process and interpret the data. But we are told this must be done BEFORE any animals leave.

There has never been a report of any disease at GuZoo, so Alberta Agriculture is out of line in their assumption of disease at our facility. They talk about disease potential. Well, there is disease potential on every farm in the world. Why suddenly single one facility out?

They rant about increased disease risk due to co-mingling of exotic and domestic animals. A theory that has never been substantiated.

They define co-mingling as breathing the same air.

Not Giving Up Just Yet

2011-06-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

As you know this has been an emotionally trying time for the Gustafson family. We have so many questions and very few answers seem to be forthcoming.

We have been showered upon with emails and phones calls from individuals and organizations who offer their support and sympathy for our situation. Thank you to all who have contacted us with words of encouragement and offers to help.

We have so many concerns right now, from the future of the animals to how we are going to pay our utility bill next month. And in the meantime find energy to seek legal help for our situation.

Many comments and questions have been directed to us regarding to future of our animals. We have not been given anything in writing to say that we must relocate our animals. We have been told verbally our “Decommission Plan” will be implemented shortly. However, we are unsure as to how much control we will be given to determine the fate of our animals.

We have however, been told by a representative of the Minister that many animals will be euthanized. This is not our will. If they allow us to stay open and operating, these animals can live out the rest of their lives here. We are told there will be no relocation efforts made for Wallace our male lion, our four black bears, and our white tail deer and elk herds. These animals must be euthanized.

I want to make it clear, that this is being forced upon us, and if and when it comes down to the date of these animals execution, it will not be GuZoo Animal Farm owner or staff who will pull the trigger. I can assure you of that.

By choosing not to renew our permit, our government as sealed the fate and ended the lives of over 20 beautiful and healthy animals.

Please direct any questions concerning the reasons for euthanizing these animals to Sustainable Resources and Development.

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/AboutUs/SRDContacts/Default.aspx

They should be able to provide you with their reasons for the slaughter.

As for the rest of the animals, if we are indeed forced to give them all up, these animals will be SOLD, not given away, to people and organizations willing and licensed to possess them.

The sale of our animals is currently the only source of income we can seek at this time. All fair market value offers to purchase domestic and licensed animals will be considered. Please do not phone us with offers, please email so I may file your phone number and offer for reference should we indeed have to follow through.

Email purchase offer to:

guzoo@xplornet.com

Again, thank you all who have expressed their concern for us and the animals. God Bless and know that we are going to fight to save the lives of our animals with every resource we have.

There is a campaign underway right now to raise money for legal defence. You can make a donation in any amount by cash or check and bring it to The GuZoo Animal Farm.

Or

At http://www.guzooforever.com/donationideas.html

Using Pay Pal, click on the Donate button at the bottom of the page

There has been a suggestion that if every supporter of the GuZoo would donate a single dollar, there would easily be enough money to cover legal fees.

April 13 Update

2011-04-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings all. Good of you to stay tuned. We had two more government inspections yesterday, April 12th and past both. The Health Authority only had a couple suggestions to make. The ASPCA had yet another complaint and the two attending officers found no issues.

We are happy to announce some spring babies you can all look forward to seeing in the near future.

Our most endangered animal, the Black and White Ruffed Lemurs have blessed us with yet two more "litters" of young ones. The mother of three little ones already has her hands full as the squirts are quite active and agile at only two weeks of age. One mommy Lemur gave birth to a single baby only last night. These births are extremely important as the Black and White Ruffed Lemurs is one of the most endangered lemurs in the world. Every captive born animal give the species new hope for survival.

Rosey, our Japanese Snow Macaque is a new mother for the forth time. She gave birth to an infant only three days ago. We haven't yet established if it is a boy or a girl, but so far it is doing really well. Rosey has always been an exceptional mom.

The red foxes have babies and we are expecting the wolves to have a litter also.

Since last fall, I haven't yet introduced some new critters to the GuZoo.

Two Bennet Wallabys can now call GuZoo their home. They have a nice fenced enclosure not far from the children's playground area.

We also inherited two Canadian Lynx this winter. They are beautiful representations of their species.

Artic Fox have returned to GuZoo. We now have a pair of them again. The female is identified by her green ear. Not our doing, however, but nothing we can do about it. It will wear off in time.

Although it has been set up for some time, the turtles enjoy a new large swimming tank and basking rock donated by a long time fan of the GuZoo.

Two months ago we became owners of two young musk ox. They have settled down nicely in their large private enclosure.

Media Blitz Turned In-Side-Out

2011-04-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hello, from GuZoo,

This recent media blitz intended to ultimately have us shut down, has resulted in unprecedented offers of support and help in all imaginable ways. Face Book and other social media is a powerful tool, and it can work for or against us.

Once those photos hit the internet, we were bombarded with phone calls and emails of the nastiest description. Hidden intermittently between some of the most vulgar and fowl language I have seen and heard were death threats, not only to us, but to the animals also.

But after two days of this abuse, the tides began to turn and the phone calls and letters of support started coming in. By day four the supporters outnumbered the Anti GuZoo activists and we began to realize just how many lives we have positively touched over the years. It has been over a week since the beginning of all this crazy stuff and the letters and phone calls of support are still filling my mailbox and filling up our answering machine.

So, from the bottom of our hearts, we, the Gustafson family, would like to thank you so very much. I am sure you can appreciate the stress something like this causes to a family and having your support really lifted the load.

The governing authorities have done their inspections. We were visited by Alberta Fish and Wildlife, who two days later, issued us our permit. The ASPCA attended to do their routine complaint investigation concerning a goat with a broken horn, a tortoise with no heat lamp and a dog with a sore. The officers indicated the animals were dealt with to their satisfaction.

We will prevail.!

The GuZoo will live on!

And now more than ever, we have help.

So, since the amount of people wanting to help gets bigger everyday, a meeting has been organized for all those wishing to help out the GuZoo in any form they feel they can.

The meeting will take place April 30, at 2pm at the Super- 8 Hotel in Three Hills.

The purpose of this meeting is to organize different committees to take charge of the various aspects of GuZoo where people can help out.

For example:

A Fund Raising Committee
A Work Bee Committee
People from different towns and cities willing to be a donation drop-off point.
A Zoo Volunteer Committee (for ongoing animal related tasks at the GuZoo)
Volunteer drivers are needed to do pick-ups of meat and other perishable donations.
A Construction Committee (for building new shelters at the GuZoo).
A Donation gathering Committee (for gathering building materials etc…)
A Spending Committee (deciding how all the donation money will be spent).

There is already a registered non for profit Society in place called Friends of GuZoo Society. Some of the members will be there at the meeting. It is hoped that many of you will join the Society and form these committees under its name.

Membership is $15 per person or $25 per family per year.

The Friends of GuZoo Society has fallen into dormancy for the past year and a half. But the current members have high hopes of scooping up new members with new ideas and new energy to take the Society to a higher level. There is need for a Friends of GuZoo web site, a donation Pay Pal account, new executives to hold office, and new fund raising ideas.

So Please come to the meeting if you can. IF you can’t make the meeting but still wish to help out in some capacity, you will be directed to the people and committee you wish to be a part of.

See you there!

Lets talk

2011-03-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

Anonymous said... With all due respect, it's the authorities who will determine how "fit" your facility is for these animals.

Yes, I hope they do. We have done nothing wrong.

Sarah said...

That's all very interesting, but what about ZooCheck? They've obviously been inspecting for years and aren't just someone who stopped by with the motivation to show how terrible your zoo is.

Any facility who has been subjected to Zoocheck knows for a fact that Zoocheck's one and only mission is to close ALL zoos. Of course they are going to find something to complain about. Just like they attacked the Calagry Zoo and the Edmonton zoo the recent years.

Steven J Carnegie said... ...Im curious if you say there a waterers for winter why you have volunteers say that can eat snow...You cant survive off eating snow so why assume an animal bigger than you can.

How long can human go without water? I understand a human would die in less than a week without fluids. How long do you suppose a lion can go without water? Not sure I have read any studies on that, however, the fact of the matter is our male lion is 19 years old. So either he survives by eating snow in the winter, or we are watering him. You decide.

...tortoise cage not the fact that the cage is very clearly to small and lacking clean water. not to mention food that is potentially toxic.

There has been many questions about our tortoise and it's diet. May I draw your attention to this web site

http://www.monkeyfrog.com/sulcatatortoise_caresheetpage.html

We feed timothy hay, romaine lettuce and various other fresh vegetables mentioned here. In the summer fresh grass, weeds and dandelion leaves and flowers are offered.

To squash your concerns about the size of her enclosure, please consider the physical capacity of a tortoise. They do not need room to jump and climb and run. Also understand that in the summer, when the weather is mild, she enjoys an outdoor habitat that is MUCH bigger then her winter accommodations. There is no doubt that she will out grow her current aquarium, and when that happens, we will have another one build for her.

Anonymous said... The Calgary zoo is a real zoo with proper animal care and proper facilities to house the varieties of animals.

The Calgary Zoo is given a minimum of 22 million dollars annually in government funding. This is in addition to their gate admission. Their employees are paid by the City of Calgary. We have to pay our staff from our gate admissions. We are given zero dollars.

We could do a lot with 22 million dollars a year also. Do you know where we might get it?

...and not only have I been to your place, I left with a sense of dismay. I believe that you did start with good intentions, but over time there are more animals at your facility than there is time or money to care for them. I am not against "you" as people, I don't believe you're bad people, I just think you are in over your heads.

When we started out 21 years ago we were much smaller. But as a farm who cares for and houses animals, more kept coming our way. Please refer to this page of my website:

http://www.guzooforever.com/home/animalsanctuary.html

Needs change, demands change and we have adapted to the ever growing demands to find homes for many domestic and exotic animals. Some we keep, some we re-home. We do turn down many animals each year. We know we can't help them all. It is also important to force people to take responsibility for the animals they have, not just hand them off to us.

I even saw one of your "staff" a young teenage girl feeding the Lynx a box of "Lunchables"

This made me laugh because one of the criticisms was we are feeding our animals food unfit for human consumption. See, we are damned if we do, and we are damned if we don't.

You must realize that your explanations carry little weight when you won't take the 2 minutes required to register for a facebook account

I have many reasons for not having a Face Book account. I personally believe it is an avenue for identity theft, fraud and harmful intentions. I was warned years ago by a prominent media expert to STAY AWAY from Face Book. I urge to all to as well.

How do you explain the exhaustive amount of complaints by visitors and zoocheck? The fact that you were a fur farm before a sanctuary???!!

As mentioned before, Zoocheck is anit-zoo 100% They want to regulate ALL zoos out of business. And the fur farm? Yes, it was explained on my web site that Mr. Gustafson had his fur farm licence revoked because he refused to slaughter his animals. So he put them under a zoo permit.

On your website, it asks for donations of dog and cat food that your "various animals" eat. Do only dogs and cats eat this food, or do your other animals eat it as well?

Yes, there are many zoo animals whose diet is supplemented with cat and dog kibble. The high protein content of cat food is attractive to skunks, but please note that is not all we feed them. If you question this practice then consider this. Healthy diet = healthy animal and a healthy animal = long life.

We have a 20 year old bear who has been with us since he was a cub. We had a skunk who lived to the ripe old age of 9 years. Our male lion (who is not feed commercial pet food BTW) is 19 years now. I think that speaks for itself.

I am curious why domesticated dogs are still allowed to roam about the wild animal cages,

These are our family pets. If we tied them up, I bet you would complain about that too. We choose our dogs carefully, although these dogs may not be obedience trained, they have been temperament tested to, a) be awesome with the public and, b) not harm livestock.

Obviously we can't have dogs running around who are going to chase down our sheep.

Cattle farmers are not animal care professionals, they are agricultural producers.

When your livelihood depends on the health of your animals, you learn VERY quickly how to care for them properly. Cattle farmers, pig farmers, and chicken farmers must keep their animals in top condition so as to allow for greatest production. This makes them experts in their field and professionals who make a living at it.

If you have too many animals to do it alone, couldn't you surrender at least a few of them? Or stop breeding them?

We don't have to do it alone. We have volunteer help, community support and feed donations from farmers and seed cleaning plants. Stop breeding them? If all the zoos stopped breeding their animals, in twenty years there would be no zoos in the world. Some people would think this is a great thing. But some animals only exist in zoos as they have been wiped out of their natural habitat. And without zoos, very few people would be able to see a tiger or a capybara other than on tv (or stuffed in a museum).

why did you say you would send the animals to a taxidermist?

Mr. Gustafson wasn't sure he should have said that as he was worried people would take it the wrong way. And most have. What the public doesn't understand (by no fault of your own) is that all zoos have limits on what animals and how many they can or can't have. For instance, we are only allowed three lions. If someone phoned us tomorrow and said, "can you take my two lions off me as I can't look after them anymore", we would have to turn them down. Legally we are only allowed to have three lions. Regardless of our facility, size of enclosure, capacity to house them...etc. People think that if we shut down, the animals will just be scooped up by other zoos. Sure, some might. But lions are a dime a dozen, not many zoos want a 19 year old male lion to add to their collection even if they were allowed by their governing authority to take it in. So, what Mr. Gustafson was saying, is that suddenly closing a zoo down can in fact result in the euthanasia of many of these animals.

Many people questioned the housing of our tiger and our macaques and voiced concerns about them tolerating our climate. May I say this: SIBERIAN Tiger, Japanese SNOW Monkey. Hope that helps. If not, Google it.

The primates who can't tolerate the winter have a heated enclosure to house them in the winter.

I hope this helped. Please don't write comments with threats, name calling and swear words. Those will be deleted.

I disagree. Any organization who have been subjected to ZooCheck knows they are anti-zoo and desire only to see ALL zoos closed. So of course they are going to find faults in our zoo. Just like they attacked the Calgary Zoo and the Edmonton Zoo.

Thanks for your support!

2011-03-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the recent assault on the GuZoo happening on Face Book, we have found new friends. I have received phone calls of people who want to volunteer their time to help us by enrolling in our volunteer program. In addition we have received calls from as far as California from people who want to send us money and supplies for the animals. Thank you and God Bless!

I have been sent letters of support, mostly from animal care professionals i.e. cattle farmers, who have expressed their understanding of the difficulties encountered in maintaining animals while at the same time trying to educated and keep the public happy.

To those people who have condemned us and judged us from photos seen on the Internet, I ask you not to be swayed by one person's bias angle on a situation. We don't have a Face Book account, I have never been on the site and I can't view the photos without signing in, but I finally got to see some of these photos (a nice person sent them in an email). Please understand that those photos do NOT show the whole story. It is obvious to me, that the author/photographer had deliberate intentions of portraying our farm as a terrible place. Also, some of the captions corresponding with photos contain lies or at best un-truths. However, in the author/photographer's defense, it is possible that these were not lies, but incorrect assumptions on his/her part.

For example, the tortoise has and always has had a heat lamp AND a UV light. Perhaps the author/photographer didn't recognise these devices. The photos taken of various animals deliberately showing the snow covered water dishes, can't show the other side of the enclosure, the presence of smaller water dishes used only during winter. Many enclosures have winter water dishes and summer water dishes and many of these dishes are placed where the public can't see them. Just because the photographer couldn't see or choose not to show his audience the water, doesn't mean there isn't any.

Having said that, I invite everyone who was negatively influenced by those photo essays to come and visit our facility for yourselves. I can write until I am blue in the fingers, and defend those photographs or explain the whole story, but it won't convince you, unless you see for yourselves. So come. If, at the end of your visit and after approaching us with your concerns you are still unhappy, we will gladly refund your admission fee.

We do a lot of wonderful things here for people and animals. Hundreds of animal lovers forced to give up their pet (for any number of reasons) have chosen us as their animal's second chance because they feel we can do the job right. If you feel we are lacking, then please join our volunteer program, pick up a shovel and show us how to do it better. We welcome constructive criticism and manual labour. We can't do this alone.

Thanks for your support and hope to see you soon!

Spring Has Sprung at GuZoo

2010-06-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well Spring is in the air, actually it is nearly summer! How time flies. So what’s new at GuZoo? Everyone is asking about baby animals. We are still currently working on getting the public contact with exotic animal ban lifted. As things stand right now, visitors cannot touch any “exotic” animals, baby or otherwise. But take heart, your family can still have fun feeding and petting the mini donkeys, horses, lambs, goats, bunnies, kittens, puppies and pigs. Our star attraction this year is a newly acquired blue and gold macaw named Merlin. He is amazing. Mr GuZoo has him out nearly everyday to sit on visitors arms. Merlin is extraordinary even for a macaw, as he can be trusted to be gentle with anyone. Even kids can hold him, ...he likes everyone. This year we have had wolf pups and fox pups born. When you come, be sure to look for them in their enclosures. There are white tail deer fawns and a baby buffalo also to be seen. The weather promises to be wet for the next week but after that, things around here dry out pretty fast. So we hope to see you soon!

GuZoo Has a New Cougar

2009-09-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

Last week Guzoo obtained a young female cougar. She is three-four months old, an orphan from the Cypress Hills. She is still adjusting to her new surroundings here and we are still getting to know her. Contact with the public is limited to viewing only at this time. Public contact with our new baby will be determined by her temperament and sociability.

GuZoo needed this new addition to replace the old female cougar we lost this spring to old age (she was euthanized at the ripe old age of 18 years).

Wolf Puppy!

2009-05-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Mother's Day, our new little female wolf puppy will be here for the public to cuddle and enjoy! Mom's get in free on Mother's Day so it is a great day to come! The little wolf pup is 12 days old today and fat as can be...she is a good eater. I haven't named her yet so I will keep you posted on that. If the weather is warm you might also be lucky enough to see our new baby black and white ruffed lemurs. We had a set of twins and a set of triplets born this spring. That is five little lemur babies to enjoy! They are cute, cute, cute! The lemur mothers sometimes bring them out to bask in the sun. Don't have photos yet. But will update this shortly. Stay tuned.

We Got New Lemurs! Ring-Tailed Lemurs

2009-04-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce we now have on display for all to see, two new additions to our zoo. An unrelated pair of Ring-Tailed Lemurs came to our zoo this Spring. They are both near one year old and are expected to grow just a little bit more. They are on display in our primate section. We haven't named our two new additions yet... so suggestions are welcome.
We also have three Peccaries (also known as javelinas, by the Portuguese name javali and Spanish jabalí or pecarí). They are small hairy pig-like animals that have a reputation for being highly aggressive. They can be viewed on display across from the skunks.

We had wolf pups born today. I will be bottle raising raccoons and wolf puppies very soon. We are also expecting our Black and White Ruffed Lemurs to bless us with babies as well. Stay connected for that!

See you soon!

Dog Adoptions Open Once Again

2009-03-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

After a long and cold winter, GuZoo has reopened their dog adoption program. During the course of a year, GuZoo takes in and rehomes approximately 200 dogs/puppies.

So, at present time we have one little dog needing a home. His picture is below and you can go to our web site to read his profile if you like.

http://www.guzooforever.com/adoptananimal/dogsneedinghomes.html

New baby lion at GuZoo

2008-11-22T20:17:00.000-08:00

We are once again able to offer the public a marvelous opportunity. We have a new born lion cub at our zoo! Born here from our resident lion pride, the little female lion cub was brought into our home a few days ago. She is nearly two weeks old at the time of this post and she is doing wonderfully. She took to the bottle very well (easier than most other cubs I have raised) and she is loving all the cuddles she has been getting. The public is welcome to come into our home and visit and cuddle with this precious little thing. GuZoo doesn't charge anything over and above the regular zoo admission for this fantastic opportunity. She won't stay small for long so come quickly if you want to see her while she is still tiny. You can come any day of the week.

If you come at the right time, you can even bottle feed her. She is fed several times a day.

Snow Monkeys Have New Home

2008-09-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

The Snow Monkeys at the GuZoo have now been moved to their new and upgraded enclosure. They are now situated across from the lemurs. The snow monkeys now enjoy a sheltered loft and hide-away (seen on the left, with Cody looking out). Their new enclosure has three climbing trees and half a dozen ropes for the monkeys to play with. There is also a sheltered feeding/shift area for the monkeys to enter so the zookeepers can safely access the enclosure for cleaning. Visitors can enjoy the antics of the monkeys from the comfortable shelter of a bench seat with sun/rain shelter.

We would also like to take this GuZoo News article to announce the creation of a new display board in the GuZoo Office. This board was graciously built by a gentleman who took time out of his day to help me build this display wall while his wife got down and dirty cleaning animal cages. The couple came all the way from Edmonton to "get dirty" at the GuZoo. They gave up part of their stay at the five star Banff Springs Hotel just to come and help out in any way possible at the GuZoo. Thank you Lorri and Harry for your sacrifice and effort. Lorri is also putting together a proposal to the Edmonton School Board for a Science Discovery Program to be carried out at the GuZoo. GuZoo hopes to host and take students of various ages through the zoo and teach them animal care, safety, anatomy, feeding habits and conservation efforts. We will let you know how things come together.

The display board in the office is a new way for you, the visitor, to feel part of the GuZoo. The board is dedicated to you, our valued visitor. You are asked to bring or send us your favorite photo of you and a GuZoo animal. We will post your photo on the board for all to see. The photos must contain both a person and a Guzoo animal and they are to be just regular size (4X6). You can email us photos as well, however we will not print them for the board in the office, instead we will post them on our web site in a photo album devoted for this purpose.

Here is the link to photo album:

http://www.guzooforever.com/cutebabyanimals/sendyourphotos.html

Helping Hands

2008-08-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

The GuZoo Animal Farm owners, the Gustafson family, want to dedicate this entry to the GuZoo Blog to a special group of adults and children who drove three hours to come to the GuZoo and bust their backs to make GuZoo a better place. The group wishes to remain anonymous as they want no recognition for their efforts. They gave me their permission to create this blog entry however.

The group of two adults and three teenage children drove for 3.5 hours in a vehicle loaded with bought or donated items and materials to help make GuZoo a better place for people and animals alike. They themselves spent over $100 on various item to bring to the GuZoo.

Some of the items they brought included Trim Clad paint, signage, colored rope ladders, swimming tubs, food dishes, animal toys and swings. Most importantly, they spent 25 man hours painting fences, assembling and installing the various toys and climbing apparatuses, and cleaning animal cages. The group worked hard and with minimal supervision by GuZoo staff. They were responsible, followed directions and instructions procuring to their safely around the animal enclosures and generally were not disruptive to GuZoo's daily routine.

We, the Gustafson family are thrilled with what they accomplished. We appreciate the time, thoughtfulness and effort they made first, to find or buy the items they wanted to donate to the GuZoo and second to come all that way and work so hard to enhance not only the lives of our animals but the aesthetics of the GuZoo as well.

Many thanks go out this family. Thanks to them, our lemurs now have climbing ladders and new swings. Many cages got a routine cleaning, pathways got raked, an entire section of fence got a face lift, the juvenile animals (the skunk and raccoon) got new houses, swimming pools, toys and feed dishes. All this done at no cost to the GuZoo, all supplies and labor were graciously donated.

Here is the young skunk checking out his new play tent.

As you can see, the lemurs love their new climbing structures. We has so much fun filming these photographs. The lemurs are always ready to entertain. They are very gentle and my two year old boy came in to investigate as well. Below are his photos enjoying the new swings etc.

GuZoo's Animals Are Having More Fun!

2008-08-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to generous donations and a Friends of GuZoo Society summer long fund raiser the animals at GuZoo are enjoying their new Boomer Balls.

The wolf pups and the young lion needed no coaxing to engage in their new toy. The two pups were tripping over each other in their eagerness to play.

The adult Tiger Jackson, however, thought it was a bit too warm to be frolicking with a ball. But in the end we got some good photos. I really thought the mini donkeys would bat the balls around with their nose (I have seen them have loads of fun with buckets and a stray cloth) but I was proven wrong. The donkeys showed absolutely no interest. Perhaps it was too hot. Who knows.

Spunky the snow monkey needing a little time to get to know his Boomer Ball. He only tentatively reached out to touch it while we were watching. Perhaps tomorrow he will gain courage and find amusement in his new toy.

The lemurs were a real treat to watch. They are naturally inquisitive and it took only seconds for them to seek out and examine the strange object in their enclosure.

Thanks again to the Friends of GuZoo Society members who worked to hard to make this all happen. And thank you to all you donated money to contribute to this grand outcome!

Lions and Tigers and Wolves!!!

2008-07-07T23:49:00.000-07:00

GuZoo is proud to announce the birth of four healthy timber wolf pups born to Cheyanne (the mom) and Zuki (the dad). Two of the pups have been hand raised by GuZoo staff and two pups are still living with their family in there upgraded enclosure. The two hand raised wolves are touring the GuZoo daily eagerly awaiting pets and love from the visiting public. As of this date the wolf pups are three months old.

New Arrival

2008-03-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

GuZoo wants to announce the arrival of a new lion cub to our zoo. Born here to Wallace and Kenya, the new little fellow is two weeks old now. He is not on display yet but given TLC in our home where he is bottle fed and cuddled lots by yours truly. We don't have a name for him yet, perhaps we will organize a naming contest again as we did with our tiger cub two years ago. In a few weeks (after vaccinations) and on warm days, the new arrival will be on display during the day for supervised cuddles by the public.

GuZoo's Dog and Cat adoption program

2008-02-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

GuZoo’s dog and cat adoption program has been a success over the past few years. On average we take in an attempt to re-homed approximately 200 dogs and 500 cats. 95% of the dogs that we have surrendered to us are large breeds, generally between the ages of six to 18 months and mostly cross breeds. For the most part we find homes for these animals. However we make it our policy never to adopt out dogs that show signs of aggression or dogs that were surrendered to us because of aggression. These dogs are humanely euthanized. Much of our success in finding homes is thanks to our collaboration with the Olds College. Their animal husbandry classes have need for dogs in their program. The Olds College selects some of our surrendered dogs, spay and neuters them, provides vet care if needed, some obedience training and then adopts them out as per their adoption program.

The GuZoo Animal Farm never seems to be without dogs and cats that are in need of homes. People just seem to know we are available to take in stray and unwanted pets. But we do advertise the need to find homes for these hundreds of animals. So if you are looking for a new companion please consider adopting a homeless one from our program.

In the past the GuZoo used to do provide this adoption service free of charge. However, rising costs in pet food, vaccinations, medicine and staffing has necessitated the need for a small service charge. We now charge a $20.00 drop off fee per dog, and a $50.00 adoption fee per dog. Cats are $10.00 to drop off and $10.00 to adopt.

Reindeer in Time for Christmas

2007-12-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

The GuZoo can boast Reindeer once again as part of our collection. This pair replaces the old pair from years ago who pasted of old age. Lynn likes to think of his new pair as spares for Santa in the event he should get a "flat" on his annual run. The female still has her antlers but the male shed his eariler this winter.

The Summer Wrap Up

2007-10-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all, we have a new blog. The host of our former blog such down. So here we are.

Well, thanks to everyone who visited the GuZoo Animal Farm this summer we have had our most successful year this millennium. Unfortunately, our much awaited new lion enclosure was not able to be completed this season. However, our red foxes are enjoying their newly finished spacious enclosure complete with hide-a-ways, climbing structures and sunning platforms. Our raccoons moved into their new habitat this summer as well. Enriched with dens, climbing logs and sunning platforms, the raccoons are loving their new home. The Barbados sheep are now enjoying a paddock twice the size of their former one. Our camels, elk, Himalayan Thar, mouflon sheep and fallow deer are also all in new and up-sized pastures.

In addition, a new heated barn needed to be constructed to make accommendations for a family of Madagascar Lemurs whose former owner has taken very ill is no longer able to care for them. The construction of the new Lemur exhibit was the primary reason the lion enclosure didn’t get completed on time.

And Mr. Guzoo is a grandpa again, to the human animal this time. Granddaughter number five was welcomed into the GuZoo family Oct 6. Bill and I are hoping to raise up both our children to carry on the GuZoo legacy.