- Suspended GFAS facility continues violating the Animal Welfare Act.
Published by -NAWA News Feed- in -Animal Welfare- · Wednesday 16 Mar 2022
The Animal Welfare Act has been violated twice again at Jungle Friends Primate "Sanctuary" in Gainesville, raising the facility's total to 13 breaches in the last year. The Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary had its accreditation suspended by GFAS (Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries) last July but it still proudly displays the GFAS logo on it’s home page.
According to the most current U.S. Department of Agriculture report, the feds inspected Jungle Friends for two days on February 3-4.
The inspector discovered many mounds of dried, caked-on feces in the "Thunderdome indoor cage" housing four spider monkeys on the first day of the examination. The inspector noticed urine accumulating down the building's inside wall and a strong odor in the room. The inspector noted on the second day of the inspection that Jungle Friends had placed newspapers on top of the urine pool but had not removed them. The same dry feces mounds were discovered as well.
The inspector wrote, "This enclosure is not cleaned regularly, and [a] collection of fecal waste and urine was noticed."
According to the inspection report, Jungle Friends' propensity of failing to clean its monkey cages on a regular basis was also evident in the facility's "Funky Monkey Town" indoor enclosure, which had various mounds of dried fecal waste on blankets and perches. The inspector noticed the same fecal mounds on the second day of the inspection, as well as a strong odor upon entering the enclosure.
Several primate enclosures at Jungle Friends were pitted and peeling with rust, according to the report.
According to USDA statistics, the monkey population at Jungle Friends plummeted between 2019 and 2021, with 59 monkeys disappearing from the animal inventory, implying that the animals died. Despite being heavily regulated by state and federal agencies, records show that Jungle Friends has taken in four more primates in the last year.
Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary had its accreditation suspended by GFAS (Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries) last July but it still proudly displays the GFAS logo on it’s home page.
Since January 2021, Jungle Friends has received 13 federal offenses and an Official Warning. Moldy food, rodent-infested enclosures, filthy primates cages infected with moldy animal feces, veterinary care problems, and a lack of staff members to effectively care for the facility's animals were among the other breaches.
The Facebook page Primates over Profits, which is managed by whistleblowers, recently addressed concerns about Jungle Friends' staffing troubles.
"In the last 20 months, Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary has been unable to keep any new personnel employed for more than five or six months," stated Primates over Profits. According to the social media post, only one part-time staff member is caring for 120 monkeys in a section of the sanctuary known as "Kansas."
Primates over Profits commented, "It's upsetting to realize the monkeys are no longer receiving the high-quality refuge care they were once promised."
Primates over Profits has previously stated that the only way to promote meaningful change at Jungle Friends is for Director Kari Bagnall to be fired and replaced by fresh leadership.
Related news: