USDA cites Brown City animal sanctuary ... again

A Brown City animal sanctuary facing censure from PETA and federal regulators received another round of violations in a February USDA report.

The February inspection report cites the facility for inadequate veterinary care and enclosures, noting a 25-week-old tiger named Daisy was being held in the basement of a home.

“Daisy has a dull coat lacking the normal sheen that you would expect in a healthy, actively growing tiger,” the report reads.

“There could be several causes for this dull coat appearance including: indoor housing, internal parasite infestation and poor nutrition.”

Chuck Vanneste, chief executive officer for Summer Wind Farms Sanctuary, said the tiger was being kept inside to keep it out of the cold.

“You’re talking about a cub that needs warmth and needs care,” Vanneste said.

He said Daisy’s previous owners gave the tiger up after it had outgrown its use. Otherwise, the jungle cat would have been euthanized.

“This cat was used for picture taking,” Vanneste said. “We had to rescue it or it would have been put down.”

The Mowerson Road sanctuary has been the target of PETA activists and the USDA, receiving more than 150 violations since January 2014 for noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act.

In January, the USDA also filed a formal complaint against Summer Wind Farms, one that carries penalties of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, a license suspension or a license revocation.

Vanneste said the sanctuary has filed a response to the USDA’s complaint and is negotiating with the agency.

The 140-acre facility houses several tigers, bears, monkeys and alpaca that were once pets, mascots, movie extras or roadside attractions.

Vanneste has argued that, were it not for the sanctuary, many of those animals would be euthanized after outliving their prime.

When the facility took in Daisy, it was also offered another young tiger used for photos, Vanneste said. He said the facility didn't have room for the tiger and it was killed.

The facility was named in a lawsuit between PETA and the USDA as a prime example of a facility that was consistently cited by the USDA but continued to have its license renewed.

"Neglected animals, filthy facilities, and clueless volunteer staff are the norm at Summer Wind Farms," PETA Foundation Deputy Director Brittany Peet said in statement regarding the facility’s most recent USDA report. "This squalid facility either can't or won't properly care for exotic animals, and PETA is calling for it to be stripped of its exhibitor's license and shut down for good."

The February USDA report said Daisy was fed goat milk and chicken that had been “dusted with an unknown vitamin supplement mixed with calcium carbonate in an unknown ratio.”

Vanneste said the sanctuary was feeding Daisy a healthy diet, but didn’t have the details of that diet written down — an oversight that led to the USDA’s censure.

The USDA report also cited repeat offenses, such as a meat cooler with an “overwhelming odor of rotten and decaying meat,” fecal material in or near enclosures, debris, rodent holes, and a lack of adequately trained staff.

Vanneste said he feels his sanctuary is being targeted by groups that offer no viable alternative for old or ailing animals.

“The animal rights people have a big push to shut down facilities like us all around the country,” Vanneste said.

Contact Beth LeBlanc at (810) 989-6259, eleblanc@gannett.com, or on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc.