[FEL-L] NC: Zoo owner, girlfriend charged (follow up)

[SOUTHZOO at aol.com]

Zoo owner, girlfriend charged   
____________________________________
  
By _Scott Jenkins_ (mailto:sjenkins at salisburypost.com)   
Salisbury Post  
The owner of a private zoo near Rockwell was charged Monday with felony  
possession of video poker machines, and his girlfriend was charged with three  
drug-related felonies.  
Steve Macaluso, 48, of 4400 Cook Road, was also charged with misdemeanor  
possession of a controlled substance for having two doses of Amitriptyline, a  
prescription antidepressant.  
Beth Kristen Hullett, 26, of the same address, is charged with trafficking in 
 heroin and possession with intent to sell the painkillers hydrocodone and  
propoxyphene.  
Arrest warrants served by Rowan County Sheriff's Detective K.L. Myers say  
Hullett had between 14 and 28 grams of heroin, 10.5 hydrocodone pills and 22  
propoxyphene pills.  
Macaluso owns Metrolina Wildlife Park on Cook Road, where state wildlife  
authorities, assisted by local and federal authorities, staged a raid July 25  
after receiving a tip about animals held illegally.  
Formerly called Charlotte Metro Zoo, the park exhibits lions, tigers, wolves, 
 bears, exotic birds and primates and animals that its Web site says can be  
petted, including camels, sheep, goats and llamas.  
After an undercover investigation, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission  
seized animals and issued four citations against Macaluso for holding native  
North Carolina species, one protected, without proper permits.  
A fifth citation, yet to be served, charges Macaluso with illegally holding  
an endangered species, an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Wildlife Resources  
Sgt. Tony Sharum said Tuesday.  
"The purpose of those rules are to protect native species from  
over-harvesting and unregulated collection," Sharum said. "There's big business  for 
snakes, whether poisonous or non poisonous."  
During the raid, authorities discovered the drugs and several guns — for  
which no charges have been filed — in Macaluso's house, Sharum said. They found  
10 video poker machines in his garage.  
Sharum said the poker machines did not appear to be in use, but state law  
requires a permit for possession of more than five of the machines in the same  
room.  
The law also requires special permits for possessing particular native  
species. Authorities seized 15 birds and reptiles, including wild turkeys, a  hawk, 
eastern box turtles, a timber rattlesnake and a copperhead.  
Macaluso said Tuesday he was not aware of the permit requirements but would  
take responsibility for not having them.  
"If I knew about the permits, I would've gotten the permits," he said. "I own 
 a zoo, so I guess I should've known."  
He said the snakes were not his and that a friend who let the zoo display  
them assured him he didn't need special paperwork. The owl was recuperating from 
 an injury and not on display, he said, and the hawk belonged to his ex-wife. 
In  the divorce case, a judge had ordered him to keep the hawk pending a 
property  settlement, he said.  
The two pills had also belonged to his ex-wife, he said. They were prescribed 
 to her cat, and he had kept them to ask a veterinarian what they were, he 
said.  
As for the poker machines, Macaluso said he has kept them in storage for  
about 10 years. He had a vending route in New Jersey before moving to North  
Carolina and serviced the machines, but he said only two of them even remained  
operable. The rest, he said, were junk.  
Macaluso said he has five guns in his house: a rifle that belonged to his  
father, two shotguns and a handgun.  
Macaluso said Hullet was not available Tuesday, and he declined to comment on 
 the charges against her.  
Sharum said the turkeys have been euthanized to prevent them from spreading  
disease to the wild population. The birds of prey have been placed with the  
Carolina Raptor Center for assessment.  
The reptiles will go to research facilities or be returned to the wild if  
possible, Sharum said. Snakes must be returned to their original habitats, or  
they won't know where to find food and water, he said.  
An observer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which licenses parks  
like Macaluso's, and agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accompanied  
state authorities to the park.  
The Department of Agriculture has cited the park a number of times for  
offenses including letting animal enclosures fall into disrepair or not drain  
properly, allowing people to get too close to animals and not having the proper  
acquisition paperwork for some animals.  
U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Darby Holladay said his agency was  
not conducting an investigation currently.  
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman could not be reached for comment.  
Macaluso posted $1,000 bond, and Hullett posted $45,000 bond. Both are due in 
 Rowan County District Court today for a first appearance on the charges.  
Contact _Scott Jenkins_ (mailto:sjenkins at salisburypost.com)  at  704-797-4248 
or _sjenkins at salisburypost.com_ (mailto:sjenkins at salisburypost.com) . 
_http://www.salisburypost.com/area/339368718527817.php_ 
(http://www.salisburypost.com/area/339368718527817.php) 
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