Hochatown Rescue Center & Petting Zoo — Attraction in Hochatown

I came on here to write this as someone who genuinely cares about animals but I am also an understanding person when it comes to keeping up with a large amount of animals and I know it can be difficult but I had to share my experience because it took everything in me not to say something. I left this joke of a rescue so sad and mad for so many of these animals. First I want to say 95% of the staff is teenagers which tells me that the pay for this place is below any livable amount and I know they make PLENTY of money for these animals to have a proper place to sleep and actually be fed something meant for them. When you first walk in, the smell of old feces and urine is overwhelming to say the least. When I went to buy a $5 “bucket” of food, it is filled with mostly bird feed?? And then a small amount of pellets meant for the farm animals. It is very obvious which animals are favored and actually taken care of how they should be. There was a macaw in the first room that you go into that needs a serious bath, his feathers were in terrible shape and one of the staff members told me not to touch him because he bites but little did she know I had been sitting there petting him for well over five minutes and he was sitting there making happy noises and dancing because he was actually getting some attention! There is no compassion from this staff!! Next you go outside and the first cage is a lemur and cat in a cage which are obviously some of the favored animals based on the experience I had talking with the owner and the state of the cage. There was a baby goat that was hiding in a corner of one of the areas that was so lethargic that he didn’t react to anything I tried to do and wasn’t interested in any treats I had. Also, I didn’t see a single bowl of water in this place that looked clean or had fresh water. Next, the amount of room they provide for these animals is a joke. There was a litter of probably 8 possums that were in a small REPTILE CAGE???? These babies were jam packed at the bottom of this cage that is filled with rocks and sticks so none of them could lay comfortably. Next, there is a building that has adoptable puppies and other animals. This little building looks like depression in real time, the cages are filled with old feces and urine. The place looks like it’s about to collapse anytime now, it’s old and dark like it’s been abandoned and they just threw animals in there where they wanted with no regard to the animals well being. The last thing I want to note on and this is what really tipped me over the edge and pissed me off to no end was as I was walking out of the place I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and in there I heard crying from some puppies. There’s a little storage part attached to this bathroom and I looked in there and this little 6’ by 4’ room is filled with junk and animals carriers (this room doesn’t have any staff in it mind you) and then I see two little puppies in a cage that is filled with feces and urine soiled sheets with no water in there bowl and their food bowl is a kitchen pot??? They don’t even have enough proper bowls for these animals!!! And that room had no air conditioning in this almost 100 degree heat. My heart literally broke seeing such inhumane conditions for these animals. This place just wants money from tourists and that’s why they are right on the main road. They could very well move to a more rural part of the town to give these animals a decent life. Do not give these people your money, all they do is underpay their staff and neglect...

Edited again to add. Tammy, instead of trying to sick lawyers on people that actually care about the welfare of the animals, why don't you spend that lawyer money on those poor neglected animals you say you love!?! Edited to add... these abused and neglected animals that we are talking about did not come to Tammy in this shape! The abuse and neglect is happening at this petting zoo. These poor animals are losing their lives IN Tammy's care and NOT before getting to her place. Of course she's going to try and have family and friends defend her and lie about facts but pictures, videos and screenshots don't lie!

These poor animals are abused and neglected. Tammy does NOT use your money to care for these animals. There are several posts on Facebook that have picture and video proof of these animals true living conditions. There are even screenshots between the owner Tammy and employee, also the manager Kayla. Tammy even has a couple Bold Eagles up there hid out, if she hasn't moved them off of the property already. Too many of these poor animals are dying, while Tammy just smiles and takes the next person's money. She won't even humanly put down the animals that are suffering. She will literally throw them back into a dirty, nasty laundry room to let them lay there alone and afraid until they pass. She's put animals in cages and put them out in the pastor behind the zoo and has forgotten about them, left them out there to pass away. There's so so much more. Employees abusing, punching, kicking animals and Tammy and Kayla being told about it, yet did nothing. There are animals with wounds full of maggots that Tammy does absolutely nothing about. Now Tammy has made all of the remaining employee sigh hush contracts. Meaning they can't tell anyone about anything that goes on up there and they can't post any pics. What rescue needs to make their employee sign a hush contract!? Hmm plz go to Facebook and search for the post that's full of proof of everything I've said here. This isn't about coming after Tammy or being mad at her about anything other than the abuse and neglect that she engages in. These poor animals don't have a voice. We have to stand up for them and be their voice. I know there has to be a lot of y'all that have been there and seen something that made you think hmm what's that about. Think back! If you see something, say something. The animals need us more than Tammy wants your money... go to FB and type in Hochatown petting zoo and look for actual posts, not the zoos actual page. Tammy obviously deleted the post very quickly. She's trying to sweep it under the rug. You can find the post though, it has a ton of info and pics and more about the abuse...

They may mean well by being a "rescue and rehabilitation" center, but our visit left us with more concern than satisfaction. The lobby looked like a hangout for teenagers, as three or so were on their cell phones and chatting when we entered. The girl who rang us up for admission automatically charged for adult admissions, even though one of our members was a child. They could have at least asked us how old they were. We also should have passed on the food for the animals. (We went on an overcast day where it had rained earlier in the morning, so we thought they may be hungry due to fewer visitors.) There was already the same food all over the place. A few animals greedily gobbled it up, but most of them didn't care for it. As for the animals inside the main building, the only ones that could be pet were small animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets, cats, an opossum, and a skunk. We were warned that the birds bite, as well as the prairie dogs. No one had any other animals such as the snakes, lizards, or reptiles out to interact with like other people had posted in the past(one of the main reasons that I took my youngest son.) The poor kangaroo that they have was sprawled out on the floor with a bed sheet and acted lethargic. Our "guide," Kayla, said that it wasn't feeling well today. Apparently it doesn't feel well on a lot of days, according to reviews from other visitors. The outside area was muddy, but they had laid out bags of cement to create walkways. It was a good idea, but the walkways would look much better if they took the packaging off after they solidified. Many of the enclosures had minimal space for the animals to escape from the elements. It felt like there was more effort put into the petting zoo aspect, than the rescue and rehabilitate aspect. Any of the knowledge that our guide provided seemed to be "scripted," where she knew a few things about a few of the animals, but little more. She also kept checking out her phone during our tour, and if we took a little longer in a certain area, she would say, " whenever you're ready, but there's no hurry," like that was our cue to move along. Overall, the tour was shorter than we expected, and we left feeling like we gave our money to a tourist attraction, as opposed to helping the...