CPW says Gator farm has made improvements to their facilities since they first opened, after PETA’s complaints

ALAMOSA COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- After an electrical fire that killed around 100 animals a little over a week at the Colorado Gators and Reptiles Park, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is now asking Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to investigate the facility.

PETA fired off a letter to CPW urging the agency to investigate the park and revoke its permit as appropriate to prevent it from reopening. PETA claims the closure would protect the public, stop the park from acquiring more animals, and protect the other surviving animals.

But this is not the first time PETA has made similar claims. They sent off a letter in 2021 also accusing the park of having poor and unsafe living conditions for its animals. 

Officials with PETA claim that in 2019, 12 alligators died of pneumonia after being exposed to “extreme cold” when a hot-water pipe malfunctioned and nobody noticed for days.

The Park Manager, Jay Young, said some of PETA's claims are nonsense but some of them are legitimate.

Young said a dozen alligators did die in 2019 due to a clogged pipe.

"We had a tragedy that year where a pipe got clogged with a dead fish," said Young.

However, Young said they fixed the issue the next morning.

Now, Young said they don't keep alligators in that pond anymore in the wintertime. He said it's too dangerous.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife was not available for an interview about these claims, but they provided KRDO with a statement below.

" The Colorado Gator Farm is a licensed zoological park. It is subject to inspections from CPW, has met all the minimum requirements to maintain its license and has accommodated additional recommendations made previously by CPW. Through its inspections, CPW has found no prior violation that would have led directly to this fire."

"CPW has has maintained what we feel is a good working relationship with the owner of the Colorado Gator Farm, and he has been responsive to fixing the issues we’ve found and that PETA has found in the past.

"The facility has improved considerably since it was first issued a zoological license, and it has steadily made progress with improving the facility. Many of the animals the park has were previously abused, unwanted, neglected or injured before arriving at the facility. The owner of the Colorado Gator Farm has made sure to treat injuries that occur to animals and coordinated with proper veterinary care in compliance with CPW requirements for maintaining a license.

“CPW will follow up with future inspections of the facility and will take the appropriate time to review PETA’s letter and respond once we have had adequate time to review the complaint.

“We hate to hear about any kind of incident like this fire where animals have been harmed in any way. It is also important to note that none of the issues raised directly caused the unfortunate  incident"

John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Officials with PETA claim there is not enough oversight over something they call "roadside zoos" like the Colorado Gator Reptile Park.

"We aren't opposed to accredited zoos. We are opposed to these roadside zoos that have basically no oversight," said Lori Kettler, general counsel for Regulatory Affairs at the PETA Foundation.