ABQ Times

City Councilor Tammy Fielbelkorn wants the animals currently housed at the Albuquerque BioPark’s Heritage Farm sent to a sanctuary.

She said they are “neglected and suffering” and not being cared for properly, according to KRQE.

Fielbelkorn presented photos that she took during a visit to the BioPark at a recent City Council meeting. The photos showed a rooster with overgrown spurs and a missing tail, filthy water in the turkey exhibit, and chickens with missing feathers, KRQE reported.

“I am requesting officially that these animals be seen by an actual veterinarian, clearly not the veterinarians who are caring for them now,” Fielbelkorn said. “I would like an independent survey of if they are okay. I would like to be present at that visit, and I would like to discuss a plan to release these animals to sanctuaries because they are clearly not getting the care they need.”

Fiebelkorn visited the BioPark in mid-June after she received photos from a concerned constituent, according to KRQE. Those photos indicated the poor conditions the animals were living in.

“There on display are a bunch of sheep, and again, on my personal visit on the 14th there was no water,” Fiebelkorn said. “I was there for 45 minutes. It was so hot that my phone overheated and I was unable to take additional photographs, yet these animals were there without any water. Again, not appropriate.”

Fiebelkorn said she performed an investigation as to why chickens would be missing feathers. 

“There are three reasons that I’ve been told that all the chickens could have this bad of missing feathers,” she said at the City Council meeting. “It’s either a bad ratio of male to female and they’re actually pecking each other. It’s stress and they’re pecking themselves, pulling out their own feathers, or it’s a bad diet.”

Brandon Gibson, BioPark’s deputy director, defended the care that the animals receive.

“These animals are all under veterinarian’s care,” he told KRQE. “They’ve been receiving care, antibiotics, topical ointments, a high-calcium diet, and this is something we are working to correct.”