North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has revoked the dealer license of a Cumberland County roadside zoo following inspections that discovered a dead animal, others that were sick and dirty conditions.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that inspectors from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection service looked at Jambbas Ranch Tours. They found a dead goat, insufficient shelters for the animals, inadequate veterinary care, dirty food and water receptacles and dirty rabbit cages.
According to an administrative law judge’s decision issued on Jan. 7, Jambbas neither admits nor denies the allegations, but agrees to the Animal Welfare Act dealer’s license suspension and other directives from the judge.
Among the directives, Jambbas will no longer have inherently dangerous animals such as bears and large exotic cats, and it will no longer have primates. The zoo will keep no more than 30 animals for exhibition, and it accepts a fine of $10,000, of which $7,000 is suspended.
Jambbas gained attention last year when a bear that lived there was sent to a California habitat after a lawsuit was filed over the animal’s living conditions, a 12-by-22-foot cage with a concrete floor. Ben now lives in a 2-acre habitat with grass and a pool
