Trial Begins for Owners of NE Iowa Zoo

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A California veterinarian says all the animals at a northeast Iowa zoo at the center of a federal lawsuit should be removed and sent to sanctuaries.

Veterinarian Jennifer Conrad's testimony came Monday in the opening of lawsuit's trial.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund and several Iowa residents sued Cricket Hollow Zoo in Manchester and operators Pamela and Tom Sellner. The lawsuit alleges that lions, tigers, gray wolves and lemurs suffer physical and mental distress in the zoo and seeks to keep the operation from possessing endangered species.

Conrad said the Sellners regularly fail to protect animals from disease and injury, noting that five tigers have died at the zoo since 2013. She says none were tested to find a cause of death.