Update: After a PETA staffer swore out a complaint against Henry Hampton, Lazy 5's owner, Hampton finally made arrangements to trim two giraffes'  painfully overgrown hooves. Because he delayed the critical procedure and caused one giraffe to suffer for more than a year, PETA is calling for prosecutors to pursue cruelty-to-animals charges against him. However, PETA is open to dropping the charges if Hampton promises the court that he'll adhere to a continual regimen of appropriate hoof care.

The following was originally posted December, 14, 2011.

North Carolina's Lazy 5 Ranch should be the last place that schools take children on field trips, unless the trip is meant to teach children about how cruelly animals are treated in roadside zoos. But visiting Lazy 5 is exactly what some local schools are doing.

In the last year and a half, federal authorities have cited Lazy 5 for 21 violations of animal welfare laws, and the feds have also opened a formal investigation into the roadside zoo. One giraffe's hooves are so overgrown that she has to walk on her heels. She has suffered this painful, debilitating condition for more than a year.

The zoo has also been cited for leaving a deer to languish with a hernia for more than a month after euthanasia was recommended, failing to properly care for a deer with a large wound that was infested with flies, failing to shear sheep who were left panting in heavy fleece in 86-degree weather, and allowing dangerous, unsupervised public contact with animals. The list goes on and on, and PETA is appealing to all local schools to stay away.

If your local school takes children on field trips to the zoo or circus, click here for tips on reaching out to your principal to get these cruel field trips off the list.

Lazy 5 Ranch is an apt name for a roadside zoo in Mooresville, North Carolina, as the operators appear to be too lazy (read: downright neglectful) to provide even minimal care to the animals stuck there. PETA has filed complaints with the county animal control department and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking for action to help two giraffes with severely overgrown hooves. The hooves are so neglected and painful that the animals are having difficulty walking. Other animals in trouble include a white deer with a raw, open wound that is 4 inches in circumference, among other injuries. A visitor to the zoo reports that she couldn't detect a water source in the rhinoceros and giraffe enclosures and that there is insufficient shade in the giraffe pen. 

The USDA has already repeatedly cited Lazy 5 Ranch for allowing animals' hooves to become painfully overgrown, which puts stress on bones, joints, tendons, and muscles and can lead to permanent damage and arthritis. The zoo has also been cited for failing to provide veterinary care to 14 unshorn sheep who suffered heat distress (they were found lying on their sides and panting heavily) after temperatures reached into the 90s.

Although local and state anti-cruelty laws apply, Rowan County Animal Control Supervisor Clai Martin has abdicated all responsibility to the USDA and has taken no action to help these suffering animals.

Please send an e-mail today to the animal control department asking for immediate intervention at Lazy 5 Ranch.

 
Written by Jennifer O'Connor