Summer Wind Farms Sanctuary of Brown City has until the end of September to donate or sell many of its animals.
The exhibitor has pressured from animal advocates (PETA) and federal regulators about the alleged condition of its animals, including a federal appeals lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for “rubber stamping” license renewals.
An order Tuesday said the USDA formally revoked Summer Wind Farms’ Animal Welfare Act license, ordering the facility to “cease and desist” from violating the act’s standards.
Chuck Vanneste, the sanctuary’s owner, has been critical of scrutiny from the USDA, as well as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which supported the USDA’s ruling. He said he was still negotiating with the USDA to see what, if anything, could be done to save the Sanctuary.
The USDA filed a formal complaint against Summer Wind Farms in early 2016, citing AWA violations going back a decade. More than 200 complaints have been filed. In the last year, those citations included failure to recognize health concerns of animals in a timely manner, cleanliness of available water for animals, food storage, and a lack of trained employees.
The facility is run primarily with volunteers, and as recently as May, two tigers were sent to another Minnesota-based sanctuary to address health issues. Vanneste said sending the animals out was his decision, despite claims the tigers been rescued after it publicized a video of Summer Wind Farm’s grounds.
Earlier this summer, PETA’s suit against the USDA, which named Summer Wind Farms among example animal exhibitors, was rebuffed in a decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the feds had the discretion to renew licenses for animal exhibitors.
In a statement Thursday, PETA officials said “after years of appalling neglect and apparent indifference to animals’ suffering,” the Brown City facility was to “face the music” with the USDA’s recent order.
“This is a tremendous victory for the animals who have been denied basic necessities for so long, and PETA stands ready to help find reputable sanctuary homes for them,” the group said
Vanneste is required to allow the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to inventory the sanctuary’s animals twice, under the order — once prior to and after dispersal. The order states he can also retain several animals for the remainder of their natural lives, including a coyote, a long-tailed Java macaque, two bears, and a Japanese snow macaque, as long as they aren’t used for purposes of exhibition as regulated.
Summer Wind Farms has had several bears and big cats, and dozens of monkeys, foxes, birds and petting zoo animals. The USDA’s order also states the facility will incur a $25,000 fine.
