By Cami Knott
A Rockbridge County Circuit judge has ordered Gretchen Mogensen, co-owner of the Natural
Bridge Zoo, to return two missing baby giraffes to the state by Oct. 29 or spend 100 days in the
Rockbridge Regional Jail.
Judge Christopher Russell also fined Mogensen $1,000 after finding her guilty of contempt of
court during a hearing Wednesday.
In early March, a jury decided after a six-day trial that 71 animals at the zoo had been treated
cruelly and that 29 had not been.
The contempt ruling comes after unannounced inspections carried out by the Virginia Attorney
General’s Office in April. The inspections were tied to a court order giving the state custody of
several animals at the zoo, including four giraffes, two of which were pregnant at the time.
Mogensen refused to allow investigators inside the zoo on three separate attempts April 7-8,
Michelle Welch, prosecutor and director of the attorney general’s office’s Animal Law Unit,
wrote in a court filing. The two calves weren’t at the zoo when the inspectors were finally
permitted to enter.
According to Welch’s filing, county officials later confirmed with a licensed veterinarian that
two giraffes had recently given birth. One of the mothers still had afterbirth on its tail.
Prosecutors said the newborn giraffes were never turned over to the state as required, and they have not been seen since.
Russell ruled that Mogensen violated a court order that requires her to allow investigators full
access to the zoo. The order does not permit any of the giraffes to be hidden from inspection
while the case continues.
“Gretchen asserted incorrectly that the court order did not apply to her,” Welch wrote.
The contempt finding marks the second time Mogensen has faced sanctions for ignoring the
court order.