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FILE PHOTO: A group of protesters stood outside Lagoon in 2013 demonstrating against the amusement park's Wild Kingdom Train Zoo

Standard-Examiner staff

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FIlE - A child feeds a deer at the Lagoon zoo. (Standard-Examiner file photo)

STANDARD-EXAMINER, STANDARD-EXAMINER

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FARMINGTON — A Utah animal rights group — in promoting its Facebook page — is claiming the Lagoon amusement park has failed to meet federal minimal standards for the care of animals used in relationship with its Wild Kingdom Train Zoo.

The intent behind the post and accompanying petition being circulated on social media is to get Lagoon to either release its animals to a animal sanctuary, or improve the living conditions for the animals being held in its zoo attraction, said Jordan Kasteler, organizer of “Stop Imprisoning Animals! Lagoon Amusement Park.”

“We are trying to spread the message,” Kasteler said.

Kasteler, 32 and of Sandy, said thousands have signed their petitions. “This has been an ongoing campaign,” Kasteler said

But Lagoon officials contend they have heard from this same exact group before, and park officials deny those claims being made by the animal rights group.

“Our animals are well taken care of,” Lagoon spokesman Adam Leishman told the Standard-Examiner on Friday.

But Kasteler says the park has received prior violations from the United States Department of Agriculture when it comes to the care of their animals, the most recent violation (or recommendation) coming in 2013.

“We have not received a violation in seven years,” Leishman said. “The issue in 2013 was a non-compliance, basically a recommendation. That animal was treated the second we found out about it. The fact is is that we have not had a violation.”

But despite what information Lagoon has shared, Kasteler, and members of his group, have conducted protests just outside the Farmington amusement park on state property in 2012 and 2013 in protest of the zoo, or what Kasteler refers to as a “unnecessary attraction.”

The largest number of protesters the group has ever had show up for one of its outside-the-park demonstrations is about 40 people, Kasteler said.

“We have been down this road,” Leishman said of the ongoing claims. “(Kasteler) is making claims that are not accurate,” he said.

Other claims being made against Lagoon on the “Stop Imprisoning Animals!” Facebook page is the park’s failure to care for sick and dying animals; having inadequately trained employees; and failure to provide animals with adequate space.

Contact reporter Bryon Saxton at 801-625-4244 or bsaxton@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @BryonSaxton.