LOS ANGELES (AP) - California officials have imposed restrictions on a wildlife sanctuary that houses abandoned and mistreated animals because they say conditions there threaten the welfare of the animals and humans.
The Wildlife Waystation houses 1,200 horses, chimpanzees, lions, wolves and other exotic animals and is the largest such sanctuary in California.
The Department of Fish and Game issued a cease-and-desist order Friday, saying the conditions ``pose serious public health and safety and animal welfare concerns.''
The facility cannot give tours, accept new animals or exhibit its current residents until it permanently reduces its population and makes other changes, the state said. The 160-acre Waystation borders the Angeles National Forest about 20 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
An inspection March 28 found that many cages were cramped or otherwise failed to meet state standards, and animal excrement flowed into creeks, posing health and environmental concerns.
``There's such a demand and need for this facility that the numer of animals coming in exceeded their ability to cage them,'' Mervin Hee, regional patrol chief for Fish and Game, said Sunday.
The action couldn't come at a worse time - the spring nesting season when people bring in hundreds of rescued baby squirrels, possums and birds, said Martine Colette, the founder and director of the facility.
``It'll be a hardship on people; it'll be a hardship on animals,'' she said.
Colette denied the facility poses a health risk and said the cages are ``safe and comfortable.''
As for reducing the facility's population, ``there is nowhere to put them. That's why the animals come to us,'' she said.
AP-NY-04-09-00 1942EDT
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.