citation_inspection: 31549

Indoor housing facilities. ***The skunk is being housed in a pen that has sides made using a flexible metal fencing for the front and right-hand sides, and the corner walls of the animal room make up the left-hand and back sides; the floor of the pen is the wall-to-wall carpet that covers the floor of the animal room. The carpet next to the walls inside the skunk’s enclosure has been pulled up and and away from the wall and there are strings of carpet material present along the edges of the carpet, and the skunk has been using the surface of the carpet to urinate and defecate on. In addition, there is an uncovered electrical outlet on the wall inside the pen at a level that is accessible to the skunk. Per this Section of the Regulations, indoor housing facilities should be constructed of material appropriate for the animals and should be maintained in good repair to protect the animals from injury. Wall-to-wall carpet is not an appropriate substrate for the floor of an enclosure for a skunk. Skunks have strong forelegs and long nails that make them excellent diggers who dig holes in the search of food when they do not live in captivity. The frayed edges of the carpet pose a hazard to the animal if ingested and the carpet cannot be readily cleaned and sanitized. An uncovered electrical outlet that is accessible to the animal when inside its enclosure can lead to an electrical shock. The Licensee needs to: (#1) modify the skunk’s enclosure to ensure the safety of the animal and to ensure that the enclosure can be readily cleaned and sanitized until (#2) a new enclosure can be built that is more appropriate for this species of animal. Correct (#1) by 10/1/16 and Correct (#2) by 10/31/16. ***The fabric hammock inside the degu enclosure was noted to be excessively worn from chewing by the animal and had some frayed edges and holes that pose a hazard to the animal from ingestion of the frayed fabric fibers or from possible entrapment of a limb. Per this Section of the Regulations, indoor housing facilities should be constructed of material appropriate for the animals and should be maintained in good repair to protect the animals from injury. The hammock needs to be removed from the enclosure and if a new hammock is provided, it should be removed or replaced when it is worn. Correct immediately.