Changes in Animal Program at Moorpark College Urged

Two reports recommending improvements in Moorpark College’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program, accused last year of providing substandard care, call for an immediate reduction in the number of animals and an increase in funding.

But the reports, one written by a college committee and the other by a consultant, concluded that general treatment of animals has been good and that many improvements have already begun.

The college’s program was begun 11 years ago. It is designed to produce animal handlers and trainers for movies, television shows, zoos and circuses. The one-acre facility housed as many as 600 animals, including lions, cougars, birds, monkeys and mules, as of last month.

Last summer representatives of the Humane Society of the United States toured the facility and harshly criticized it. The president of the Humane Society of Ventura County said the animal compound looked “like a roadside zoo.”

The evaluation charged that many animals lacked adequate shelter, were kept in small cages that afforded little exercise and that drainage, food storage and cage floors were inadequate, posing the threat of disease.

The reports, released Monday by the Ventura County Community College District, suggested that the number of animals be reduced by one-third and that the college and district move the facility to an eight-acre site on another part of the campus.

One of the reports, initiated by Moorpark College President W.R. Hearon and prepared by a committee of college administrators, said the current facility “is simply too small to continue to serve the program effectively. . . . If the program is to prosper or even continue, it must be relocated.”

The college report recommended that, until a new facility is built--at an estimated cost of $350,000--cages and floors should be remodeled, walkways should be built and potted plants should be added to improve aesthetics.

The college report said the program’s budget is barely adequate and has been “overly dependent on public gifts and student/staff fund-raising efforts.” The report said that $10,000 should be added to the budget immediately and staff levels should be increased in the 1985-1986 fiscal year.

Despite the recommendations, the college report said general animal health appears to be good. It rejected critics’ charges that care is severely substandard, citing the general approval granted by government regulatory agencies that inspected the compound.

The other report, prepared by the director of the Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens, reached basically the same conclusions as the college administrator’s report, recommending that food preparation areas be enlarged and hot and cold running water be provided.

Critics of the program could not be reached for comment on the reports.