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Exotic animals housed at mall are being evicted An Iowa mall told an animal exhibit that it needed to move in August and now the deadline has arrived. Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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WEBVTT The exotic animals housed at the Academy of Wildlife Education are being evicted from Merle Hay Mall! KCCI's Shaina Humphries explains, the race is on to find them a new home. BEHIND THIS BLACK CURTAIN & CLOSED SIGN IN THE MERLE HAY MALL ... ARE DOZENS OF ANIMALS, INCLUDING BEARS, COUGARS AND WOLVES--WHO NEED A NEW HOME. <We are tasked with basically evicting the owner or occupant of that business. THE EVICTION SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO OWNER, RON DEARMOND. HE DIDN'T RETURN OUR PHONE CALLS TODAY, BUT WE SPOKE WITH HIM BACK IN AUGUST, WHEN HE WAS FIRST INFORMED THAT HIS LEASE IN THE MALL WOULD NOT BE RENEWED. <Well I think you're dealing in hypotheticals right now because we don't have any plans on shutting down before the new facilities are ready to move the animals into.> HE TOLD US ABOUT PLANS FOR A 20- MILLION-DOLLAR WILDLIFE PARK IN ALTOONA, BUT HE WAS FAR FROM RAISING ENOUGH MONEY TO BUILD IT THEN, AND IS STILL NOWHERE NEAR THAT GOAL NOW. <It sounds like a grand project, that's obviously going to take some time Time which I don't believe he's going to have. <The sheriff's office is now working with the ARL and the Blank Park Zoo to figure out a way to safely transport the animals to a temporary home.> A PERMANENT HOME, IS ALREADY AVAILABLE, THANKS TO RITA MASON. SHE FOUNDED THE CAMPAIGN, "STOP THE ZOO AT MERLE HAY MALL", AND TOOK MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS, LINING UP A HOME FOR THE ANIMALS, WHICH SHE SAYS IS APPROPRIATE AND HUMANE, UNLIKE A SHOPPING MALL. <The sanctuary that I offered up to Ron and the mall, the Wildlife Animal Sanctuary in Kingsburg, Colorado, they told me that the mall has been in touch with them.> BUT LEGALLY, THE ANIMALS STILL BELONG TO DEARMOND, UNLESS THE COURT GRANTS THE MALL CUSTODY, TO MOVE THEM. THE EVICTION WILL TAKE PLACE BY JANUARY 9TH. SHAINA HUMPHRIES, KCCI