(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Monkey’s death at Blank Park Zoo prompts a formal warning from USDA [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- June']
Date: 2023-06
Federal officials have issued a formal warning to Des Moines’ Blank Park Zoo for contributing to the death of a snow monkey last year.
As Iowa Capital Dispatch reported earlier this month, an 8-year-old Japanese snow monkey named Nico died shortly after undergoing a lengthy dental procedure at the zoo on Aug. 17, 2022.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector’s report, the monkey was under anesthesia and lay on its back for approximately three hours with an electric heating pad under its back. The amount of heat that’s applied in such circumstances is “usually monitored by veterinary staff,” a USDA inspector reported.
The inspector alleged that “in the investigation into this case, the zoo’s attending veterinarian and leadership staff concluded that proper monitoring was not done, resulting in the severe burn to the monkey’s back.”
That burn resulted in a “large, gangrenous wound,” and on Aug. 30 — which was 13 days after the dental procedure – the snow monkey was euthanized due to its poor prognosis for recovery, the USDA alleges.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service cited the zoo for a “critical violation” related to its attending veterinarian and the provision of veterinary care. That specific regulation requires animal exhibitors to establish and maintain programs of adequate veterinary care that include appropriate methods to prevent and treat diseases. According to the inspector’s report, all Blank Park Zoo veterinary staff were “retrained on use and monitoring of the heating pad.”
The violation was the only infraction cited by the USDA during its April 2023 visit.
On June 7, the USDA took the additional step of issuing a formal warning to the zoo for the violation. It advises the zoo that if there are any future violations of federal regulations, the agency may pursue civil penalties, criminal prosecution or other sanctions.
Blank Park Zoo CEO Anne Shimerdla has called the monkey’s death a “very unfortunate” but isolated incident.
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