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NEWS
metronews.ca WEEKEND, July 19-21, 2013
What should we Guzoo
Total war. GuZoo debate heats up, but is either side breaking the law? Wrinkled pages of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stapled to a board greet entrants coming off a secluded dirt road and into the homestead of GuZoo owner Lynn Gustafson. The message is clear: this is his property. Trespassers won’t be tolerated. Elsewhere, there are more subtle signs that the private zoo on site, home to as many as 500 domestic and exotic animals, has been the source of controversy over the years. Entrants are required to sign in at the main office — full name, city, phone number — and small security cameras are perched atop multiple enclosures. A notice on the barn entrance into the petting zoo informs visitors they are welcome to take photos, but adds, “RCMP will become involved if your photos are used in any activist-defined capacity.” Gustafson isn’t joking. Since May, he’s called in law enforcement at least three times: twice after apparent trespassing and most recently for a bomb scare that forced visitors to be cleared out for hours on a busy Saturday. Front and centre in the latest GuZoo outcry is new photos and video provided first to Metro by the Council of Concerned Albertans for Animal Welfare and Public Safety (CCAAWPS), which was launched in 2007 with the sole purpose of shutting down GuZoo. The items, obtained by a so-called whistle-blower — one that RCMP are now looking into in response to a trespassing complaint — depict dirty birdcages and foodpreparation stations, maggots crawling through food and at least four animal carcasses stacked in barns and on piles of garbage. Stomp and roar
GuZoo opponents have scheduled protests at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton and provincial courthouses in Calgary on Monday.
Metro out Guzoo Discovery Park, the thing
Under siege
“I’m sick and tired of it. We haven’t done anything to these people.... It gets to the point where you feel violated.” GuZoo owner Lynn Gustafson, on the harassment allegedly caused by activists.
Criticism grew when renowned Internet activist group Anonymous republished the images in a YouTube video. The video features a figure in a Guy Fawkes mask warning: “Every day this disgusting farm is not held accountable for their actions, our resolve will strengthen and our focus will become on government officials who refuse to address the shameful conditions at GuZoo.” Julie Woodyer with Zoocheck Canada believes all of Alberta’s zoos have problems but said “the most serious and most widespread problems are at GuZoo.” Woodyer believes the facility has managed to stay open because Gustafson is able to tidy things up temporarily. According to the province, zoos are required to be inspected at least once a year in a pre-arranged visit. A veterinarian can request visits occur more often. The province did temporarily revoke Gustafson’s permit in 2011, and GuZoo now apparently operates under stricter conditions. Critics have conceded the public areas of the facility have been cleaned up but allege that the real horror lurks behind the scenes. Woodyer believes it will take a consistent outcry to shut GuZoo down. Yet staff at the facility appear intent on fixing their brand. Since the whistleblower footage surfaced, a new website and social media accounts have been launched. Jeremy Nolais and Annalise Klingbeil/Metro
A Bengal tiger keeps close watch over visitors to GuZoo near Three Hills. Jeremy Nolais/Metro
two squawking parrots. One bird has masterful timing, startling visitors leaving the barn with the word “bye.” Outside, three free-roaming basset hounds journey from cage to cage, keeping watch, before finally coming to rest in front of the lion’s den. They bark repeatedly while the massive cat paces frantically and responds with the occasional roar. The animal enclosures separating the big cats — two tigers, four lions and a whole pride of cougars — are not what you would find in the city. You can get up close and personal with each, but two fences keep the animals at bay — only someone with the wingspan of a professional basketball player could actually stick a finger or two into the danger zone. Warning signs include “Animal bites” and “Keep an eye on children.” A friendly worker, doing his morning rounds, denies requests to pet the lions because “they’re too big now.” Other animals are allowed to roam completely free, including an emu named Mike who’s been known to plop down for a nap next to some younger visitors. For the non-country folk, GuZoo can be difficult to find. Only one sign a few kilo-
Ten dollars at GuZoo’s front gate grants you access to a surreal animal world. In the petting barn, a French bulldog finds the perfect spot to nap up against the pot belly of a pig. You can pet both, but neither shows much interest. There are, however, plenty of playful goats, cats, rabbits and even some lizards. But visitors are told to watch out for the iguana, a rescue animal with an attitude. Cages are not exactly species-specific. In one, a rabbit bounces around beneath
Signs at GuZoo warning visitors to stay back from the lynx cage. Jeremy Nolais/Metro
Jeremy Nolais
jeremy.nolais@metronews.ca
metres south of the site points travelers in the proper direction. Even still, at least a dozen visitors were spotted strolling the grounds on a particularly dreary Monday morning. It can be hard to differentiate between paying customers and zoo volunteers, as many under the age of 18 stop by to lend a hand in exchange for the chance to cuddle a rabbit — or something more daring. “This one likes to try to touch the bear,” the worker says, motioning to his young protege. Words like “organic” and “intimate” are used to describe GuZoo, and the worker says the crowds come by the hundreds on the weekends.
GuZoo owner Lynn Gustafson through the years
“They have their own agenda, and it has nothing to do with the animals.” November 2007, in response to claims from animal-rights groups that GuZoo and Discovery had violated more than 150 regulations put in place by the province.
“I am disappointed in our government. This is the wonder of their whole setup: I have to get rid of every animal, but then I can start over again.” June 2011, in response to have his zoo permit temporarily revoked, a move he said was spurred by “Communist Alberta.”
“We have done at least double. They have basically left me with no choice.” April 2012, referring to animal slaughters on site he claimed were necessary to feed tigers, monkeys and lions while under strict sanctions from the province. Animals killed included calves, goats and deers.