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By Anneliese Schneider The appeal process for the Natural Bridge Zoo ruling has started.
On Jan. 19, following a two-and-a-half-day hearing in Rockbridge General District Court, Judge Gregory Mooney released a decision stating that 61 of the animals seized from Natural Bridge Zoo in December would remain in state custody, while 39 would be returned to the zoo.
Attorneys for zoo owners filed a motion to appeal last Monday, and a hearing was held this past Thursday to determine the cost of the appeal bond.
This was set at $55,400, which, according to the ruling, “represents an estimate of boarding costs for two months” while the appeal is being heard.
As Aaron Cook, attorney for Karl and Debbie Mogensen, explained, “To appeal, the Mogensens were required to post an appeal bond. When they win in circuit court, that money will be returned to them. That bond has been posted.”
A hearing is slated in Rockbridge County Circuit Court for this Thursday to set a date for jury trial.
“An appeal ‘stays’ the lower court’s ruling, so the animals will all stay where they are and any judgments that court made about costs, inspections, etc., are not effective,” Cook told The News-Gazette.
This means that the majority - 96 - of the animals will remain in state custody.
The state had also impounded the four giraffes in December but could not move them at the time because of transportation issues. The state, Judge Mooney noted in his ruling last Thursday, had requested “physical possession” of the giraffes, but he denied that request while the appeal is heard.
He said the giraffes will remain at the zoo, subject to unannounced inspections “to ensure their health and safety.” Those authorized to make the inspections, he said, would be a Virginia State Police special agent; Amy Phelps, the state’s giraffe expert, and a giraffe veterinarian of her choosing; and Amy Taylor, who specializes in animal crimes for the attorney general’s office.
In last week’s ruling, Mooney also awarded $45,563.46 to the county of Rockbridge, listed as the petitioner in this case, for care and board of the seized animals from Dec. 6 until last week.
