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A dozen animals from Wisconsin’s now-closed Special Memories Zoo have disappeared from DeYoung Zoo, Wallace, MI, records indicate.
Roadside Zoo News obtained Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) that indicate 31 animals from the Wisconsin roadside zoo were sent to DeYoung Zoo from March 2-May 6, 2020.
The animals were sent to DeYoung Zoo for the purpose of exhibition, not for sale, according to the documents.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspected DeYoung Zoo and completed an animal inventory on Aug 19, 2019, and September 16, 2020. Many of the Special Memories Zoo animals are accounted for on the September 2020 animal inventory. However, the USDA failed to document a dozen animals that were sent to the facility.
A comparison of DeYoung Zoo's 2019 and 2020 USDA animal inventories and the 2020 CVIs reveal the following animals are missing from the U.P. roadside zoo:
Two wolves named Robbi and Jeanie
One black leopard named Onyx
Two tigers
Two snow macaques
One ring tailed lemur
One Tonkean macaque
One hamadryas baboon
Two vervet monkeys
DeYoung Zoo has repeatedly declined requests to reveal the location of the missing animals.
Some of the animals are endangered species and their transportation across state lines for the purpose of a sale is a federal violation.
DeYoung Zoo is owned by Bud DeYoung and Carrie Cramer.
The CVI indicates Cramer also transported two Geoffroy's cats, two binturongs and one squirrel monkey across state lines to Saginaw Tropical Animals LLC, an animal dealer in Michigan.
In the section of the CVI that lists the transporter, Cramer first began writing DeYoung Zoo, but then crossed it out and wrote “Carrie Cramer” as the transporter. For the license number, Cramer wrote “Pipers,” rather than using DeYoung Zoo’s USDA license number.
Piper’s Rescue Ranch is owned by Cramer and is not licensed by the USDA, according to the USDA website.
The CVI indicates Cramer transported the animals to Saginaw Tropical Animals for the purpose of exhibition, not for sale.
An examination of Saginaw Tropical Animals’ most recent USDA inventory indicates the two binturongs Cramer transported there from Special Memories Zoo are no longer at the facility.
Roadside Zoo News has been tracking the animals missing from Special Memories Zoo for more than a year but without assistance from federal agencies, our search has come to a dead end.
Please, politely ask officials to determine the location of the Special Memories Zoo animals that are missing from DeYoung Zoo and urge them to investigate whether this transfer of endangered species was lawful.
Information needed for complaint:
DeYoung Zoo
Wallace, MI
USDA number: 34-C-0141
Submit a USDA complaint: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/complaint-form
Email the USDA: animalcare@usda.gov
Email a tip to U.S. Fish and Wildlife: fws_tips@fws.gov
Thank you for being a voice for the animals.
Wisconsin Certificates of Veterinary Inspection:
DeYoung Zoo 2019 and 2020 USDA reports with animal inventory:
Saginaw Tropical Animals LLC January 2021 USDA report with animal inventory: