Enraged Animal Lovers Learn The Bone-Chilling Truth About This ‘Educational Fur Farm’

One of the saddest things a rescue group runs across is a so-called rescuer who actually abuses animals.

Sometimes, we all want to do more to help than we can possibly follow through with.

Sometimes, unexpected things happen that make us unable to care for the animals we’ve placed under our care.

But when you continue to take in animals, knowing you are ill-equipped to care for them adequately and then profit from them…well, that makes genuine rescuers see red.

People from Minnesota and miles around visit the Fur-Ever Wild agricultural farm each year for a chance to play with wild animals, some of them gray wolf pups.

They donate money to keep the animals in humane conditions, and to enable the facility owner to take in more animals and care for them.

Yet, they found out recently that each year, some of those pups faced a cruel and illegal demise.

The first hint that something was amiss came about when the facility euthanized several adult grey wolves because they “became aggressive and too big for interacting with the public.”

When that news hit the fan, a little searching brought even more sad facts to the surface:

After the wolves were killed, some of them have been allegedly skinned, beheaded, and set up in taxidermic displays in the farm gift shop. That’s just sick!

Initial rumors of the killings appalled animal advocacy groups and prompted an attorney from the Twin Cities to take action.

In a letter to the Fur-Ever Wild “outdoor agri-educational farm” written by Jennifer Robbins on behalf of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Robbins informed Fur-Ever Wild that their actions ran afoul of the Endangered Species Act.

“Fur-Ever Wild is in violation of the ESA’s Section 9 for its systematized taking of protected wolves,” she wrote.

“Fur-Ever Wild’s wildlife exhibition and fur-harvesting business exploits wolf pups by first using them as an attraction in the company’s petting zoo, then later skinning them for their fur—in the process killing them in direct violation of the ESA’s prohibition on taking.”

Fur-Ever Wild states that they offer visitors a chance to meet fur-bearing animals from North America in “pet-and-play” activity time.

But the ALDF alleges that the educational value the facility provides is a dark deception.

“There is broad public support to stop their continual taking of wolves that visitors pay to see at the company’s ‘pet-and-plays,’ and for whom they donate money or materials believing they are supporting the maintenance of this threatened species.”

Robbins continued:

“Not only does allowing these wolves to live out their natural lives conform to the requirements of the ESA…

…it also makes good business sense for the company to support, rather than undermine, the continued existence of this threatened species.”

Public approval for the facility has been dropping like a watermelon on a hot rock following the (well-documented) reports of illegal killing and fur harvesting.

“Gray wolves in Minnesota are threatened, and it’s not only illegal to kill a gray wolf but to harm or harass [one] in any way through the state, whether the wolf is in a zoo, fur farm, or in the wild,” said ALDF attorney Christopher Berry.

“She reported the death of 68 wolves at her operation in the last five years.

I can’t think of any way those would have been of natural causes.”

Owner Teresa Petter opened Fur-Ever Wild to the public in 2005 with only a single wolf, the Daily Beast reports.

Today, they hold lynx, red foxes, arctic foxes, cougars, and raccoons, as well.

It’s not just animal lovers that are up in arms, either.

Along with opposition from countless animal rights supporters and the ALDF, Fur-Ever Wild has been taken to court more than once by Eureka Township, where zoning laws prohibit exotic animals from being kept.

Petter now faces a court ruling that could relieve her of all but one of her wolves. But she says she isn’t worried about the zoning issues or the drop in support for her facility by the public.

“No matter what happens with the zoning issue, they’re still my animals,” she told the Star Tribune.

They are indeed still her animals…animals that are not being taken care of in a humane fashion.

Inspections of the property have turned up unacceptable situations, too.

Investigations conducted by Lockwood Animal Rescue Center in 2015 found the animals “infested with flies, which appeared to be feeding on the open wounds.”

A year later, the USDA report listed a “watering tub [that] was green in color” and an “overabundance of flies” where the food was prepared.

And as for food, according to one reviewer on Google, “They are fed expired hotdogs,” which the USDA statement, and a Facebook post by Petter, backs up.

This is possibly just another hoarding case; a case where someone had very good intentions that went terribly wrong.

Whatever happened though, 68 animals died on this woman’s watch over a period of 5 years. And that’s just way too many.

The world is watching now, though.

Hopefully, no more animals will die there for the profit of the person who has vowed to care for them and keep them safe!

Source: The Animal Rescue Site