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Authorities seized animals from Noah’s Park Retreat in Goshen, New York, on September 11, according to a social media post by the facility.
A statement posted by Noah’s Park Retreat representatives Rebecca Vives and Diana McGowan indicates authorities confiscated horses, donkeys, pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and peacocks.
“The person in charge refused to give any information about where they were taking them,” they wrote. “The charges were malnutrition, dehydration and unsanitary conditions.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture declined to renew Noah’s Park Retreat’s license to exhibit animals to the public earlier this year, after the facility failed three re-licensing inspections and accrued 18 animal welfare violations in the past year.
In April 2021, a wallaby named Rocco escaped from his enclosure and was spotted hopping through the town of Goshen. Police later captured Rocco and returned him to the roadside zoo. In March 2022, wallabies and patagonian cavies escaped from their enclosure. One of the wallabies was later found deceased and the second wallaby–Rocco–has never been recovered.
Other violations include rusty enclosures, unsanitary food prep areas and grime and debris in animal enclosures.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) previously issued a statement indicating Noah’s Park Retreat is not authorized to keep any DEC-regulated mammals in New York State, either for exhibition or as pets.
“Further, without a USDA license the facility cannot exhibit any mammals,” they wrote.
Former operations manager of Noah’s Park Retreat Chris Vives wrote that the animals were confiscated by the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and Pets Alive, an animal shelter in Middletown, New York. An ASPCA representative said the organization was not involved in seizing the animals.
Vives wrote that he blames Roadside Zoo News for the animals' confiscation due to the articles published about the issues.
Read the articles:
The DEC, USDA and Pets Alive did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the animal seizure.
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