Undercover Investigation Reveals Physical Abuse Of Captive Sloths

Summary:

Hauppauge, NY – The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) released the findings of a recent undercover investigation at Sloth Encounters in Hauppauge, New York, owned by Larry Wallach. The investigator captured disturbing footage of staff hitting sloths, stressed sloths kept in crowded conditions, sloths fighting with one another, and a wounded sloth struggling when Wallach roughly grabbed his head and neck.

Wallach, who previously exhibited animals at his home or other locations, has a long history of federal Animal Welfare Act violations.

Between 2010 and 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited Wallach 28 times for AWA violations, including causing sloths trauma and stress, unsafe handling that led to a member of the public being injured by a sloth, keeping animals in infested and cluttered conditions and providing false information to inspectors. In a 2013 consent decision and order, Wallach’s AWA license was suspended for six months for a number of violations relating to animal care.

According to HSUS, nearly 130 facilities in the U.S. offer close encounters with sloths. According to federal data, on average, 140 sloths are being captured in the wild and imported into the U.S. annually to feed the demand for captive sloths.

Action take by Born Free USA:

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