USDA Regulations History and A Few Individuals in the Circus Industry's Disregard For Them.

Last week, on Wednesday Oct. 14, 2010 I posted a number of photos titled Sarasota, Florida--1953 depicting the Ringling winter quarters at that time. There was a question about the giraffe cages, which I deferred to the resident zoological/circus captive animal husbandry historian, Richard Reynolds. RJR enlightened us with another brilliant lesson about the Ringling giraffe's in the mid 50's. Any one interested in the full comment, check the archives. This excerpt from RJR's comment stayed with me as I recalled a similar incident with a now defunct zoo in Florida. I remembered today the zoo was Africa USA in Boca Rotan(type roadside zoo Africa USA in the search engine for more on Africa USA. There were two difference's in the two incidences with USDA regulations and giraffe. Ringling in the 50's chose to ignore the regulations, and instead skirted them, and did what they wanted. For some reason nothing became of the incident. Africa USA chose to take USDA to court and won their case against them. Did the circus industry, repeat history so many times, instead of learning from it that it turned around and blew up in our face, the most recent incident a week ago on Cole. Bros. Circus. History is to be learned from and studied. Bad history is to be avoided at all costs, not emulated. I have always said, "the only good mistake is a new one," because you should have learned something from it, and learning is good.

Excerpt from RJR's comment:

"Because of the ban on wild born ruminants being kept anywhere but at a USDA approved zoo, the show said they would go to Jacksonville. But, instead they went straight to Sarasota. Neither teh WQ nor the traveling show qualified under USDA rules. A flap ensued but nothing ever happened and the retics stayed there.

However, after five years the show decided to take Ingrid on the road in 1955. Technically, that was forbidden because no traveling show can qualify for carrying wild born ruminants. But, again, nothing ever came of that either."

Here is an excerpt from the same issue with Africa USA, and how a modest man named John Pederson, without the riches or clout of John Ringling dealt with it. Click on the link that says "click here" to see the court transcripts:

"Moneybags" - The Troublesome Giraffe
In the 1950's, it was difficult to import giraffes directly into the United States due to strict regulations from the Department of Agriculture. The Department also refused to let Africa U.S.A. import giraffes because they were a "private" zoo. A giraffe was purchased by Africa U.S.A. from Kenya but the Department of Agriculture refused to release him to Africa U.S.A. So off to court they went. Jack Pedersen flew to Washington D.C. and assisted Africa U.S.A. attorney Ernest Tucker in arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals. The court held that Africa U.S.A. had just as much right to have a giraffe as any public zoo. Click here to read the court's decision. The poor giraffe was quarantined 18 months in New Jersey. The court battle cost over $17,000 in legal fees so the giraffe was named "Moneybags". The Department of Agriculture still was not through. They billed Africa U.S.A. $2,100 for the giraffe's food. Back to court they went and again Africa U.S.A. won. These victories against the Department of Agriculture would prove costly later on.

A Growing Boca Raton and Africa U.S.A.
As the 1950's continued. Africa U.S.A. became more and more popular as a tourist attraction with 300,000 visitors a year. John Pedersen had succeeded, perhaps too well, on putting Boca Raton on the map. Housing developments such as Boca Isles began to spring up around the Africa U.S.A. property. Many residents complained about the noise and traffic that Africa U.S.A. contributed to. A legal battle over the path that Camino Real would take ensued as the City of Boca Raton tried to condemn land. John Pedersen argued that the crooked path that Camino Real would take was dangerous but he was overruled by the city council. At about the same time the legal "victories" against the Department of Agriculture were to take their toll. Even though no animals had been directly imported from Africa for years, African red ticks were supposedly found on some animals. The Department insisted on spraying and several animals fell over dead where they stood. This and the Camino Real situation made John Pedersen realize that his welcome in Boca Raton was over. He sold the Africa U.S.A. attraction and a corporation ran it for two years. After they failed to make payments, John took the property back and ran it during its final year of operation. Several developers were anxious to buy the land.

The Closing of Africa U.S.A.
Africa U.S.A. was sold and closed its doors on September 4, 1961. The animals were sold at auction to zoos around the country. John Pedersen was 65 at the time and tired of fighting city hall. The Africa U.S.A. era had come to an end.