Why Not An American Ark

This is basically a family’s collection of animals that are caged in pens, many of which are way too small for the animals to get any exercise. They are charging the public to come and see their collection and calling it a petting zoo. The ticket office smelled horrible (dirty dogs), and had a pile of hair and dirt swept in a pile. (I guess it would have taken too much effort to throw that pile in the trash.) Several dogs were in the ticket office. They did what dogs do — come up to sniff, nudge, etc. It was difficult to walk around the dogs with 8 – 10 people in there as well. Our guide seemed like a sweet girl, but she was not very informative. When asked some questions such as «Is this bobcat from NC?» her answer was «I don’t know.». Same response to other questions. The camel was dirty and I don’t think it has ever been groomed. It looked bad! One of the many dogs was spinning/​sliding on it’s hinny which probably meant that it had hookworms. This was right in the barn where we were having to walk to see the horses. The horses weren’t in the pasture for viewing. We had to walk into the barn — no fans running & dark just to look at them in their stable. Not interesting. Horse manure was in the walkway, as well as, a large pile in the grass. They had allowed a private boarder to come ride her horse during the public tour time, so that pile in the grass probably came from her horse. Many birds are kept in small cages in a dark barn with little ventilation — with guinea pigs that are are just conatined in a stall with straw. There weren’t any wheels or anything in this stall to allow these guinea pigs the opporturnity to get exercise. It looked like a pile of rats — just being bred. I feel sorry for the animals at this facility. They are imprisoned for profit. I also didn’t notice any handwashing or hand sanitizing stations. Thankfully I had some wipes in my car. I think that these people have let their obsession for collecting animals take over their ability to care for them. I think it should have it’s license revoked. It’s not a nice experience.

My mother, nephew and two children (ages 3 and 5 yrs old) visited the farm for a private tour this week and were extremely pleased with our experience! When we drove up we were greeted by the owner, her husband and about 15 — 20 dogs! Now we are dog lovers and were absolutely over joyed by this friendly pack that followed us throughout the entire tour. The kids were first taken on a pony/​horse ride around the farm while my mom and I walked beside them. Then we visited the animals on the farm by foot with a tour lead by the farm owner. To our surprise there were many different types of animals and we were able to interact with them directly. The animals were all very friendly and the kids loved it!
If you don’t like dogs and a hands on experience with animals this is NOT the place for you. I’d also say that the private tour with a smaller group is definitely the way to go. For about $ 25 each the experience exceeded the value!

So, after acquiring a groupon, we finally visited the petting zoo and we were not impressed. We took a rather unprofessional tour with the owner’s teenage girls who were not well informed about what the animals were or where they came from. Additionally, the animals did not want to be touched and the pens were surrounded by electrical fencing (not kid friendly). Lazy 5 Ranch or Zootastic is a much better experience