Court Hearing Begins For Operators Of Roadside Zoo

The coordinator of a court-ordered removal of animals from a shuttered Manchester roadside zoo testified Wednesday that only one-third of the expected animals were present when rescuers arrived on the appointed day. Elizabeth Putsche, who served as coordinator for the removal of animals from Cricket Hollow Animal Park in December 2019, testified during the first day of a virtual court hearing in a contempt case against former zoo owners Tom and Pamela Sellner. Putsche testified that Pamela Sellner acted aggressively toward animal rescuers who were carrying out Iowa District Court Judge Monica Wittig’s order to close the zoo’s operations and remove all of the animals because of “deplorable” living conditions. Four plaintiffs, with assistance from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, sued the Sellners, seeking to remove the animals and close the zoo’s operations. After a six-day civil trial in October 2019, Judge Wittig ruled to close the zoo and directed the Sellners to surrender the animals to court-appointed agents.