By Ryan Spoehr
SLN staff
As fair visitors stopped by Woody’s Menagerie, an exotic animal exhibit at this year’s Walworth County Fair, a group of volunteers from Sharon-based Valley of the Kings protested in the background.
Woody’s Menagerie, a Mulberry Grove, Illinois-based animal showcase run by Gregg Woody, has been under public scrutiny for the ways it handles animals.
The protest occurred at entrances on Highway 11 and Fair Avenue with people holding signs and demonstrating. Due to fairground rules, protesters were not allowed inside the gates with their materials, but were allowed to do so outside the gates.
Signs displayed commentary, such as “Exploitation is not education,” “Do not support animal exploitation” and “USDA has written up Woody’s numerous times for not providing vet care.”
Part of the controversy stems from Woody’s Menagerie’s “liger” display. As he did at this year’s Walworth County Fair, Woody often showcases “ligers,” which are products of breeding male lions with tigresses, thus creating a lion-tiger hybrid.
These hybrids do not happen in the wild, as the two species live in different climates, and may actually be violent toward one another if there was an encounter, according to a Valley of the Kings volunteers said.
“Every new crowd Woody has doesn’t understand there’s no need for education for ligers because ligers are not in the wild. They are genetically produced for show,” said Andy Carlson, a Valley of the Kings volunteer who participated in the protest.
Woody also has farm animal races and presentations where he brings exotic animals on stage and talks about their backgrounds and how they live in certain conditions.
Prior to the fair, Carlson said he and others petitioned the Walworth County Fair Board to pull the Woody’s Menagerie show, but their attempts were unsuccessful.
“It’s frustrating because at Valley of the Kings, we bring these types of animals in and rehabilitate them,” Carlson said.
An online petition to have the show pulled reached 1,500 signatures from as far away as Great Britain in the days leading up to the fair.
While Woody had his license pulled temporarily last year for allegedly violating Animal Welfare Act, it has since been reinstated.
Larry Gaffey, general manager of the fair, said licensing was checked for every vendor and traveling show in the fair, including for Woody’s Menagerie.
“I think that his license exists says that he is doing what the government says is the right thing to do,” Gaffey said. “It’s the only judgment that we can base our opinions on – whether the licenses are valid or not.”
According to a 16-page United States Department of Agriculture complaint, Woody failed to provide minimally adequate, or any veterinary care to animals, resulting in animal deaths. Also according to the complaint, he was issued a warning for not complying with handling regulations in 2010 and had made false statements to inspectors regarding animals.
In the complaint, several infractions are detailed, including when Woody allegedly housed a “visibly ailing Rocky Mountain goat in a transport for nine days before obtaining veterinary care” during the time of April 27 through May 6, 2011. According to the complaint, the goat died on May 8 of that year.
Another incident listed in the complaint, dated June 21, 2011, described a female mountain lion that was “housed in a transport enclosure” and was observed to be “thin and unthrifty in appearance, with a poor haircoat, and visible hip bones and spine, and had not been seen by a veterinarian.”
Woody said he could not comment directly about the protest and was restricted in what he could say due to his contractual agreement with the fair. However, he said his methods are acceptable and that’s why he is still on tour.
“I invite everyone to come out and enjoy the show and see for themselves what I do,” Woody said.
Woody’s exotic animal show was on Sept. 2 in the afternoon at the fair. The location of his show offered protesters the opportunity to hold up signs in the background, but remain off grounds.
Gaffey was supportive of the protest, even going as far as providing bottles of water for the protesters throughout the afternoon.
“I’m happy that people can express themselves. It would be very sad to live in a country where you couldn’t,” Gaffey said. “I’ve been in knock-down drag-out arguments of who is the best rock ‘n roll band. But, in these types of things, people have much stronger feelings – religion, politics and those sorts of things. That’s why we are a great country. We’re allowed to have a different opinion about stuff.”
The fair itself, with all the 4-H animal displays, has a treatment of animals policy and makes sure people follow it, Gaffey said.
“We believe in the humane treatment of animals. In fact, a lot of this fair is about educating people in the proper care of animals. The animals do better when they are treated well. Farmers and ranchers understand that. It’s their livelihood, and if their motivations are about production and producing more and better products, they’re certainly following those things too,” Gaffey said.
Carlson said he and others are pushing for legislation to stop traveling animal shows like Woody’s Menagerie.
“Hopefully, we will not see Woody’s or anything like it in Walworth County or Wisconsin again,” Carlson said.
