Two bills advancing through the Virginia General Assembly aim to regulate controversial breeding practices at unaccredited zoos, following ongoing legal issues at Natural Bridge Zoo.
The legislation would prohibit separating wildlife born in captivity from their mothers before four months of age and ban intentional crossbreeding, or hybridization, of wildlife species.
“I’m hoping that it will accomplish these unaccredited roadside zoos that are breeding exotic animals to sell for major profits are stopped from it,” said State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D).
The proposed regulations address practices already at the center of legal proceedings in Rockbridge County. Veterinarians have testified that Natural Bridge Zoo owner Gretchen Mogensen separated giraffe calves from their mothers within days of birth and concealed them from state officials. Additional testimony alleged the zoo crossbred different lemur species.
Daphna Nachminovitch, Senior VP of Cruelty Investigations at PETA, criticized such practices: “It has no welfare value. It has not conservation value and it creates animals who don’t exist in nature and have some serious issues.”
“Separating them prematurely has some long-term consequences, emotional trauma, sometimes physical trauma, an increase in self-injurious behavior,” Nachminovitch added.
The legislation faces opposition from the Virginia Animal Owners Alliance. Its president, Heidi Crosky, argues the bills could harm animal welfare: “These bills are going to hurt animal welfare. I know that is not the PETA position, but for those of us that are dealing with these animals every day, it’s a skill to bottle feed. It’s a skill to tube feed.”
“For the very first time, milk replacement and baby bottles can be used as evidence to a crime, which we think is just horrific. It’s putting up roadblocks between us and our vets,” Crosky added.
A similar measure was vetoed last year by then-Governor Glenn Youngkin due to concerns about impacts on zoos statewide.
Both bills have passed their respective chambers and will cross over for review. If approved, they will advance to Governor Spanberger’s desk for consideration.