Raise the Hammer

First of all, to say the cats are fed kibble is completely and utterly ridiculous!! They are fed chicken or turkey which is a normal and healthy way to feed them...unlike some places that feed their cats out of a tube! Goats and deer need a large area to roam as they are grazing animals - meaning they need grass to eat - therefore a large area to eat from! Cats on the other hand, yes they are large animals and need room, understandable, however if you knew about animals in the wild you would know that they have territories that they protect, know and are comfortable in, and they also follow the same paths and travel-ways everywhere they go. Also, the big cats especially, are inactive or sleeping for about 20 hours of the day...20 hours! Would you need 10 acres of land if you did nothing for all but 4 hours of the day? - I doubt it!

Furthermore, the water that you are talking about, I could only imagine is the pond in the two acre pond run - the one that is a natural pond and that gets covered in duck weed in the summer - once again nature (and duck weed is green). All animal water dishes are cleaned daily, and all animals are given fresh water at these times.

To touch on some other comments, the zoo is supported because it is part of the community, somewhere that is a place of education and happiness. To be able to get so close to the animals is cherished by many and a unique characteristic of this zoo! Do you go to Toronto and get to see all the animals? No, they are mostly hiding and/or too far away. Are completely enclosed buildings with no fresh air for the animals to breathe natural? No, I don't think so. Is training an animal to do tricks for the public, a natural part of the animals life? No, quite unnatural I would say.

How can someone pick apart a facility and praise another when there are completely different circumstances and situations that need to be tended to?

Also, to refer to the owners as "hillbillies" is completely and totally ignorant and rude! The people who work at the zoo with the animals, are there because they love working with animals and care for them deeply, not for a paycheck! Where else do you go that the people who work with the animals can actually interact with them, understand them and communicate with them!?

Lastly, to hear some of these comments when clearly people never have had a single moment of knowledge presented to them about how to raise wild animals, I invite them to work with them and really truly understand their needs; research healthy life for wild animals and get your facts straight!! The Killman Zoo cares for their animals to a much greater extent then many other places and should be given a chance and not walked all over because it is a private (meaning NO government funding whatsoever) zoo!