[FEL-L] RE: Animal rights group files FDA complaint

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Animal rights group files FDA complaint
By  R.J. VILLELLA
_Robert.Villella at IndeOnline.com_ (mailto:Robert.Villella at IndeOnline.com) 
Another animal rights group is taking aim at Perry Township’s Stump Hill  
Farm, filing a complaint with the Food and Drug Administration recently, but  
Cindi Huntsman, who owns the animal sanctuary with her husband, Lee, said the  
claims are baseless.  
Michelle Thew, executive director of the non-profit, California-based, Animal 
 Protection Institute, said two investigators, who posed as exchange 
students,  were sent to the facility in June and found what they believe are possible  
violations of the Animal Welfare Act.  
“Stump Hill Farm has never had an FDA violation,” Huntsman said.  
Thew said Ohio is one of several states in which there is no prohibition  
against the private ownership of exotic animals.  
“There are two issues involved,” Thew said. “One is public safety. There are 
 millions of these animals housed by private owners, and they often escape 
and  pose a danger. Secondly, those owners aren’t able to provide the special 
care  these animals need.”  
There isn’t a federal law in place, Thew said, just a patchwork of state laws 
 which vary from state to state.  
Fifteen states have bans, nine have partial bans, 13 have a licensing system  
and 13, including Ohio, have nothing in place, Thew said  
The Animal Protection Institute, based in California, wrote the FDA in a  
letter dated June 28 and listed three areas of concern.  
They are:  
• API’s investigators were allowed to stick their hands through the bars to  
pet and feed the animals. There also was a lack of safety rails around cages  
with some having no rails at all.  
• There is not enough space in some enclosures to allow for normal postures  
or sufficient freedom of movement.  
• There is a lack of environment enhancement for some animals.  
“The FDA sets down guidelines they aren’t meeting,” Thew said. “They may 
care  very much for the animals in their possession, but that doesn’t mean they’
re  meeting standards.”  
Huntsman discounted the API claims one by one.  
“All our tours are guided,” she said. “We do encourage our visitors to feed  
and pet the non-dangerous animals. They are always supervise,d and we have  
safety rails where they are needed.”  
All animals are given play areas and toys, Huntsman said.  
“We should be doing a Little Tykes commercial,” she joked.  
Special care is needed for some animals who have been living their entire  
lives in cages too small.  
“We have to step them up gradually so there isn’t too much of a shock,”  
Huntsman said  
“We try to exceed FDA standards whenever possible. If there was a written  
warning during an inspection, we’ve quickly brought it into compliance.”  
Huntsman said the last written warning she remembers was in 2001.  
Karen Eggart, a spokesperson for the FDA, confirmed that the last written  
warning was in 2001 and there are no current violations.  
“We probably inspect once a year,” she said.  
API’s current complaint hasn’t been addressed yet, she said. It’s still  
awaiting review by the agency. No action has been taken.  
In 2002, PETA made similar unfounded claims against Stump Hill, Huntsman  
said.  
Those violations, said PETA’s Amy Rhodes said then, included “failure to  
provide veterinary care, mistreating primates, failure to provide shelter from  
inclement weather and keeping animals in filthy, foul-smelling cages.”  
Jim Rogers, spokesman for the USDA in 2002, said then Stump Hill Farm had no  
violations on record, just reports that require it to make corrections, which 
 Stump Hill Farm has done.  
“We provide a safe home for animals who have been injured or who need new  
homes,” Huntsman said. “We provide more financial care and more physical care  
for more animals than these animal rights organizations ever do.  
“They crucify us to get free advertising for their cause – to get people to  
send them money.” 
_http://www.indeonline.com/index.php?ID=9106_ 
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