Lightning = Opposition
Heart = Supporter
Thought Bubble = A note from Me...
We lived in Three Hills for 2 years. Just before we moved I talked my husband into going to the Guzoo. I had heard so many bad things about it and wanted to see for myself. The rumors were true and i was appalled at what I saw there. The pictures I took for my album all had to be severely cropped due to the disgusting conditions the animal was forced to live in. I wish the owners would realize this and clean it up for the animals sake. I would be embarrassed to recommend this "tourist" attraction to anyone in the state it is in. C.M.
Hello Devon
WOW! I have never seen such blatent miscare and maltreatment of an animal. I am not an animal rights activist or anything and I was looking at that website and I felt like crying, what a sad state, my heart hurts for those animals. I have never had tears in my eyes from simply looking at mistreatment of animals, but that was an overwhelming amount of abuse.
To think people are actually going to this, supporting this 'business' is despicable. How anyone can want to take part in the horrable conditions these animals have to live in is beyond me. And why? sot hat they can get a cheap pass to a run down 'zoo' instead of going to a good clean adn well maintained zoo, where animals live in large environments that resemble thier natural ones?
I would rather see a lion in a large opening, with places for them to go and hide out for a bit, space to run and diffrent toys to keep them happy. I want to see happy healthy creatures when I go to a zoo, I care to pay more to see that.
The living conditions alone of those animals is disturbing to think that anyone would feel is up to par and suitable for them to live in. It is a delapitated junk yard.
Stale and rotten bread is not a treat for any animal, it is not healthy for them to eat that garbage ever, why don't they spend a bit of money and take pride in their business and make it presentable. I would be ashamed to have my name tied to that place simply based on the look of it even. If I was going to mistreat an animal I would like to at least make myself not so obvious.
Lynn Gustafson will rot in hell for what he has done to these animals and all passed. I have been involved and seen this go on for more then 5 years!!!! Letter after letter after letter! And not one person who should be doing something to stop it, care. Political BULLCRAP!!!!
This should not be able to continue! Sad to say but some of these animals would be better of dead, then stuck suffering in a cage for the rest of its life!
Shame to him, his family and anyone who thinks this is ok!!!
This place is horribly disgusting! I cried my eyes out looking at the photos. The people who run this place should be put in the dirty little cages, and be made to feel neglect first hand. Just horribly sad :(
"Look, i'll be honest with you for a minute. i agree with alot of your beliefs. i dont think that the animals at the guzoo have the best home in the world, but it is a home. i do feel sorry for the animals. i always feel bad and i wish i could cheer them up, i wish i could punch kids in the face who taunt them. but that stuff just happens, in any zoo. but i definately agree that they deserve better, but i also believe that our community is capable of making it better. but the people at the guzoo make do with what little funding they have. what we should be doing is petitioning for more government grants so that we can give the animals the home they deserve. animals were created with love by God, just like he created us with love. We all have the right to live on this planet. Especially the animals, since many of them were first. To be honest, I don't really agree with zoos. I dont think that any wild animal should be caged, whether their cage is big or not.
I want to appologize for rude and immature comments i make, im a youngin, i tend to do that. but i do have a heart. and i am sorry.
But i can tell you that arguing with the people in this town is a lost cause, because we are a small community, and a proud one. You will find that you have little support.
Keep on doing what your doing. The animals need a voice too:)
-Whitney
im sorry but if you would get all the information about the guzoo and how many animals that they save and help then you would be amazed. half of the acusations are untrue for a FACT. the parrots are fine. i know becuase one belonged to my mom. some of the animals there belong to me and my family and mr. gustafson is like family, so close that i call him 'grandpa'. the water is dirthy in some cages because some animals walk in it and wash their food off in it or in the ducks cases make it dirty by swimming in it. the baby animals such as monkeys, raccoons, lions and tigers have to be taken out of their cages and put on a bottle or they get too wild and unsafe. Also the fathers being territorial will try and shun them out like they wolud in the wild. and sinse in we left them in there they would kill the babies then we take them out for their own safety.
the tiger with the enclosure that has no structured roof is tame. and im not saying tame as take it ot your bed to sleep with you but was bottle fed and cared for until it wastoo big to be predetable. she prabably would have jumped out a long time ago if she really wanted to. i can assure you that she wont. plus you dont know ANYTHING about the place. you only know about what you saw. there have been many improvements since you last visited i am sure. and probably even if it was some fancy zoo you would probably want to shut it down because its not up to your standards. and plus you probably have nothing better to do then rag on something you know little about.
the goats and such are muddy because they are goats and they are like that. the perrimeter fence is the last gate resort for keeping animals in. there are many other gates that can be closed in case of an animlas escaping wich i assure you is a slim chanse. the hill which may look like there is no fence around it does in face have on its all around the hill assuring an animal cant get out. every animal there has a name and is greatly cared for by all the family and staff. and if you are going to erase my comment please do so if you wish but i would like to hear what you haveto say to me first if that is okay. so message me please with your feedback on whati have just said
an ignorant fool. You really need to do some in-depth research on different species of animals and their most basic of needs...which the PATHETIC Guzoo does NOT MEET. Hoofed animals can not live in a wet environment because they will get hoof rot, look it up. Yes, large cats should absolutely be kept in an enclosure will a roof, have you not heard of the tiger escaping from it's enclosure and killing that teenager? What the hell is wrong with you giving your 'pets' to the guzoo? You obviously do NOT care about their well being...who gives their pets away to begin with. When you open your home to an animal you are making a commitment to them...to care for and love them through out their lives. Would you give away a child because it became inconvenient? Showing your support for such a low grade establishment shows the low level of your intelligence. Grow up!
I will not tell you who I am, But what I will say is Gazoo has been the subject of many investigations. These investigations are everything from malnutrition, lack of veterinary care, and how closely these animals are allowed to interact with visitors. There has been several reports of animal bites to the general public. These "temporary enclosures" have been the ONLY enclosures on their property...and as far as their rescue program, is it considered a "rescue" when you feed the rescue animals to other animals in the zoo? and yes, the deer don't stay long @ Gazoo !!!
I find it interesting that places like this always have people that stick up for places like this. They stick up for the owners. But the animals suffer.
I made a choice a long time ago to NEVER visit the Guzoo. This decision was based on comments that I heard from friends that went there and a little bit of research I did. As an animal lover, I must admit I was tempted to go and possibly pet and have my picture taken with a lynx, tiger or bear. However, I knew this would be selfish and irresponsible of me. I will not support a place like this. I am proud to say I have not been there once. I could have easily gone there myself if I was not informed of the disgusting conditions prior. I am happy to see that the people that have been there are now speaking out against it. I could not imagine seeing these poor animals in person.
My name is Robert M. I have been involved in wildlfe for more then 30 years.
"Between 1992 and 1994, Guzoo’s owner, Lynn Gustafson, was convicted of three provincial offences relating to his zoo operation: two convictions under the Wildlife Act for illegally possessing and trafficking exotic animals and an Animal Protection Act offence for failing to relieve the distress of a zoo animal.
In January, 1993 the President of the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) called for Guzoo’s permit to be revoked, noting that “the well-being of the animals is being seriously compromised by problems with lack of disease control, dirty conditions, inadequate caging and inappropriate winter shelters. There is also a real concern for public safety.”
Ongoing complaints from members of the public and animal welfare groups about the poor condition of Guzoo’s animals and its generally substandard conditions, including filthy cages, lack of water, inadequate shelters and barren enclosures, prompted Alberta Fish and Wildlife, a department of Alberta Sustainable Resources Development (SRD), to form a multi-agency task force to inspect the facility in 1999. The task force identified deficiencies in the following areas: sanitation, feeding standards, public safety, physical comfort and well-being of animals, handling and isolation facilities and record keeping.
In 2000, the SRD Minister promised that tough, new zoo regulations would be developed. In the interim time period, his department began shortening the term of and adding special conditions to Guzoo’s permits, presumably an effort to address the various animal husbandry and public safety concerns identified by the task force. However, nearly five years later, no regulations are in place and substantive changes at Guzoo are few in number.
Fish and Wildlife and the ASPCA are not the only provincial agencies that have expressed concern about conditions at Guzoo. In 1999, the Alberta Health Authority ordered Guzoo’s owner to implement procedures to reduce the risk of injury to visitors and the spread of disease from animals to humans. In 2002, the same agency produced a report detailing 10 biting incidents at Guzoo, and sent a letter to Fish and Wildlife requesting that public health and safety conditions be added to Guzoo’s permit.
In addition to the concerns raised by members of the public, various animal welfare organizations and provincial agencies, the media has also been reporting on the plight of Guzoo’s animals. In 2000, W5, a national news magazine show, produced an expose on Guzoo called Cruel Cages. The show included footage of the zoo owner feeding soda pop and junk food to the animals, as well as children interacting with carnivores. Guzoo’s owner, Lynn Gustafson, also spoke on camera about supplying animals for private individuals to keep as pets.
In 2003, the Calgary Sun published an article that included photographs of Guzoo and identified others as “too graphic to print”. In 2004, the Calgary Herald published a detailed article which described Guzoo’s filthy conditions and visitors interacting with potentially dangerous animals. These represent only a small fraction of the media reports generated over the years.
The Wildlife Act, while not specific about zoo animal housing and husbandry standards, does provide an opportunity for Fish and Wildlife to add special conditions to permits which are enforceable under the law. Since the Fish and Wildlife task force finished its report in 2000, eleven zoo permits have been issued to Guzoo, each with special conditions attached. However, evidence shows that the owner has not complied with all permit conditions and still charges have not been laid for these apparent violations of the Wildlife Act.
Conditions which do not appear to be in compliance with the permit conditions have been documented by video, still photographs and written reports from members of the public, zoo industry representatives, a veterinarian, a wildlife rehabilitator, animal protection organizations, media, the Alberta SPCA and even Fish and Wildlife enforcement staff. Yet, even after receiving all of these reports and complaints, charges still have not been laid and SRD continues to renew Guzoo’s permit. This lack of enforcement action raises a question as to whether SRD and the Alberta government is more concerned with one zoo operator than they are with the welfare of wildlife and the health and safety of zoo visitors."
