Thanks so much for pointing out the difficulties of providing quality care for 200-plus exotic animals by a single family and its volunteers in your editorial about DEW Haven in Mount Vernon (“Animal facilities must be held to high standards,” March 25).
One commenter on the editorial compared the situation at DEW to the recently discovered cat-hoarding situation in Waterville, where 41 cats had to be rescued. I think it is an apt analogy.
I also think it’s important for your readers to be reminded that the DEW zoo has also bred its animals and sold and traded them, a fact that seems to be lost on a lot of the zoo’s friends who continue to assert that DEW is a rescue operation and sanctuary.
No legitimate animal sanctuary breeds the animals they keep. This only adds to the huge problem of over-proliferation, neglect and abuse that are the hallmarks of the exotic animal trade in the U.S.
Karen Coker
Cape Elizabeth
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