Zippidy Do Da: Goebbert's Farm and a Pending Police Report

Graduate school has many upsides, and the recognition of essentially every American holiday is certainly one of them.

In honor of Columbus Day, Kate & I planned an adventure out to the sticks to bring lil' Ben to his very first pumpkin patch :)

I recommended we go to Goebbert's Farm because my parents took me there as a kid and I have vivid memories of their giant corn maze, apple cider, glazed donuts, and pumpkin bread. Goes without saying, I'm a serious sucker for all things Fall.

We arrived to the farm and everything just felt right in the world: the air was crisp, the leaves were every shade of awesome, and we had a baby with us to use as an excuse to overstay our welcome ;)

Then, shit got weird...

We entered the Little Farmer's Play Yard to get lost in the man-made corn-maze confusion but unlike my prior memories of Goebbert's Pumpkin Patch, there was now the addition of
"Animal Land"...

We made a left turn (literally) and my stomach slightly dropped at the sight of the sign for camel rides, behind which were a handful of emaciated humpbacks.

Kate looked at me with the shared feeling of,

"Toto! I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."

If it had all ended at just the Giraffes, I may not have called the police; but it got SOO much worse.

I curiously followed the sign into the "Exotic Animal Area" where I was in complete and utter shock to see dozens of children force feeding 6 foot ostriches which were standing behind a 3 foot fence. You wanna talk about "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"???? I felt like I was on the yellow brick road to hell.

I knew the operation was illegal the moment I saw the two Bengal tigers directly next to the three Syrian bears. But what prompted me to call the police was a tie between the $35 opportunity to take a picture holding a baby kangaroo and the fact that there were two species of macaques (monkeys) on display in open-air cages.

ARE YOU F%#@ING KIDDING ME?!

For those of you who don't know, many macaques carry a disease that is fatal to humans and are only EVER to be kept behind glass enclosures. They are also only ever to be handled by trained licensed professionals in highly controlled environments and let me tell you -- the tent over this circus act was neither.

There was no staff educating the children about the animals which was a clear indication that they were only on display for the purposes of for-profit entertainment. At that point, nothing felt right in my world any longer.

I've filed a police report with the Barrington Police Dept and wanted to be sure to shout to the mountain tops on my mini-soap-box/blog because there ARE things we can be doing to stop these assholes from hurting and hoarding these animals.

If you take anything away from this post,

then please read this part only:

With our stupid f%*king government "out of order", the USDA is not doing it's job to properly inspect these types of phony farms. But you can still call the police if/when you see something that feels fishy. As it is with human interaction and suspicion: If you see something, say something. Use your moral compass.

DO NOT PAY FOR THESE TYPE OF EXOTIC PHOTO OPPS. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE WITH YOUR CHILDREN. We are responsible for teaching our kids the difference between right and wrong and most importantly: empathy. That goes for the treatment of ALL living creatures.
To personally help the World Wildlife Foundation on a federal level to put an end to these type of exotic photo opportunities, you can tell the U.S. Deptartment of Agriculture that you support their effort HERE. And you can learn more about the petition by clicking here.

I know this rant makes me sound like a mega snitch-bitch who's out to ruin "good fun" for kids but let's get real -- no one needs to see a repeat of the Zanesville Ohio tragedy.

I really am a nice person but when you mess with my friends, we're gonna have to have a lil' chat ;)

Please join me to help the Humane Society tighten state laws in regards to the improper treatment of animals.