Former Holtsville zoo worker airs new allegations against facility

A mountain lion housed at the Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve drowned and an eagle went missing in separate incidents that occurred more than a dozen years ago, a former zoo public safety employee said Wednesday — adding to concerns raised by critics who say the animal enclosure should be shuttered.

Meredith Tinsley said she was told by zoo officials at the time not to report the incidents, both of which occurred in about 2009, she told Newsday.

Tinsley's claims, which she also shared with Brookhaven Town officials last week at a town board meeting, are the latest in a series of complaints by former zoo workers and outside critics of the town-run ecology center.

Town officials have denied the allegations and said a recent federal inspection found no violations.

In December, Newsday reported that former employees described animals being held in filthy enclosures, medical problems being ignored for weeks or months, and surgical procedures being performed without anesthetic by staff who lacked formal veterinary training or licenses.

DA probe opened in December

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office in December opened an investigation of the zoo at the request of town Supervisor Dan Panico. 

Tinsley told Newsday on Wednesday that she discovered a mountain lion that had drowned when ice broke in a wading pool in the animal's enclosure. 

She said the zoo director at the time told her "don't say anything because you know it fell through the ice and it drowned." The director then said, "you shouldn't report it, or you shouldn't say anything,” Tinsley said.

Within a week or two, Tinsley said, the zoo acquired another mountain lion. The enclosure was not cleaned before the new animal was moved there, she said, adding that the mountain lion “freaked out,” was anxious and was pacing.

She recalled the mountain lion being held down by several people so he could be given an injection of Valium. 

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which licenses animal exhibitors such as zoos, prohibits the “addition of new or replacement dangerous animals without license amendment.”

According to DEC records, the zoo never reported the death of the mountain lion to the DEC nor applied for a license amendment to acquire a new one.

The ecology center and zoo are operated by Brookhaven Town's highway department.

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro said Wednesday he was not familiar with the incident involving the mountain lion.

“We haven’t even had a mountain lion in the 12 years I’ve been highway superintendent,” Losquadro said, adding he had "no idea” if Tinsley's story was true.

Losquadro has repeatedly said that the zoo is in compliance with all its licensing requirements. Failure to get permission for the new mountain lion would have been a violation of its state license. 

Losquadro said a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection determined that allegations of mistreatment were "unfounded." 

USDA inspector visited in January

USDA records show the zoo was visited on Jan. 8 by an inspector. Among animals at the zoo under USDA's purview are goats, bison, fox, deer and owls.

The USDA report said, "No noncompliant items [were] identified during this inspection."

Suffolk district attorney spokesperson Tania Lopez declined to comment Wednesday. The DA inspection was assigned to the agency's Biological, Environment, and Animal Safety Team, or BEAST, she said. 

Panico said Wednesday he and several town council members have spoken to ecology center staff in recent weeks.

“We asked them a lot of questions," Panico said. "They ... dispute the allegations" raised by critics and former employees. Panico said photographs purportedly showing evidence of mistreatment are "lacking context.”

“The most critical issue for me that is of paramount importance is the care of the animals. I know the town board is in agreement,” he said.

Dozens of town employees lined the back of a meeting room last Thursday in support of zoo workers who addressed the town board. Those workers defended their work and said the animals are well cared for.

Tinsley, who also addressed the board during an open public comment period, described another incident in which she said an eagle escaped the zoo. She said she was ordered not to report the incident.

“I was told, 'Don’t say anything to anybody. We can’t tell anybody we lost the eagle,'” Tinsley said.

“What I saw while I was there was uncalled for,” she told the town board.