Long Island Petting Zoo Accused of Sloth Abuse
According to a Humane Society of the United States investigation, a petting zoo in Hauppauge, Long Island has been abusing its sloths. Disturbing video footage taken at Sloth Encounters Long Island shows staff members hitting sloths, sloths kept in crowded conditions, sloths fighting each other, and other abuses.
Visitors to Sloth Encounters pay $50 to pet, feed, and hold sloths, an encounter the place calls an “educational class to determine if you are the right fit for owning a loving sloth,” which is then offered for sale.
“The owner of this appalling facility shows no regard for the health and wellbeing of animals or public safety,” says Brian Shapiro, New York state director for the Humane Society of the US. “Sloths are shy, nocturnal, tree-dwelling animals uniquely unsuited for public interactions, yet they are being subjected to stressful handling by strangers almost daily. This is a sloth’s worst nightmare.”
Steve Pfost / Newsday
There are a litany of allegations against the facility owner, Larry Wallach, that goes back years. Between 2010 and 2023, the Department of Agriculture cited Wallach 28 times for Animal Welfare Act violations including, according to the HSUS, “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.”
Wallach’s license was suspended for six months in 2013 for a number of violations relating to animal care. It’s rather amazing his petting zoo-cum exotic-pet store has managed to survive its sordid history.
It might not survive this latest round of allegations. The town of Islip has been among Sloth Encounters' detractors since the “day that this issue was brought to our attention,” a town spokesperson told PIX11. “We share in the outrage of the community regarding the inhumane treatment of these animals, and remain steadfast in our commitment to seeking the enforcement of any and all penalties permissible under the Town’s jurisdiction.”
Photo credit: Humane Long Island
