Des Moines, Iowa, isn’t exactly known for its great strides in animal welfare. But there is a fight brewing there, thanks to a brave woman by the name of Rita Mason.
The Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines, Iowa (photo from wikipedia)
Mason started the online petition to end the practice of allowing Pella Wildlife Company, a so-called wildlife education program, to set up a portable “zoo” in the local Merle Hay Mall. Pella’s owner, Ron DeArmond, charges admission to “view” the “animal ambassadors”, and you can pay to pet wildlife, even to have birthday parties with the animals.
While housed in the mall, the animals have no natural light, no grass beneath their feet, no ability to exercise other than to pace around a cage.
Here’s’ where bears, coyotes, and other wildlife will spend several weeks as “animal ambassadors” (Photo: Charlie Litchfield/The Des Moines Register)
DeArmond says that the people that are…