U.S. HALTS WAYSTATION RESCUES.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh and Susan Abram Staff Writers

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - The founder of the popular Wildlife Waystation has admitted to nearly 300 violations of federal animal welfare laws and agreed to a suspension of her license until conditions are improved, officials said Friday.

The agreement puts an even larger cloud over the future, which has been under sanctions from county officials for more than a year.

A 65-page complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has jurisdiction over the Wildlife Waystation, noted 299 instances from 1998 to August 2000 in which the nonprofit organization founded by Martine Colette ``willfully'' violated standards for keeping animals for exhibition.

The violations include inadequately trained personnel and volunteers; poorly kept health records; chimpanzees housed in overcrowded, poorly lit and unsound cages; an unsanitary kitchen with a rodent infestation; a build-up of animal waste in some cages; failure to provide clean water on some occasions; and failure to provide adequate shelter or enough space for some lions.

``We sent warnings in 1992, 1996 and 1998, and it was just not getting better,'' USDA attorney Colleen Carroll said. ``As far as we're concerned, she shouldn't be allowed to exhibit animals in those conditions.''

Colette and Wildlife Waystation attorney, Byron Countryman, signed the settlement on Nov. 1, admitting to the violations, but said Friday the organization is innocent of many of the allegations contained in the complaint.

``In no way did the Waystation admit as a practical reality that it had violated the number of areas they alleged,'' Countryman said. The settlement ``was our way of putting this to rest'' to save money on the case and fix the real problems at the sanctuary.

``We will work around the clock, in 24-hour shifts,'' to bring the Waystation into compliance, Colette said.

The settlement allows the 600-or-so animals - including lions, bears, wolves, chimpanzees and birds - to remain at the Waystation, located on Little Tujunga Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest.

However, it prohibits Colette from accepting new animals for rescue; showing most of the animals at fund-raisers or other events; or allowing visitors at the 160-acre sanctuary for at least 30 days, or until she passes inspection. At that time, she will be placed on two years' probation.

The Waystation was founded by Colette in 1969 as an around-the-clock care and rescue center that, according to its Web site, cared for more than 4,500 animals a year. To help pay its $2.5 million-a-year operating expenses, it offers annual sponsorships ranging from $60 to $10,000, and for many years offered twice-monthly tours of the sanctuary.

The Web site also touts the ``exceptional medical care'' provided by the Waystation, and notes that ``each animal who enters our facility is provided an appropriate enclosure, food and specialized convalescent care.''

But the USDA complaint outlines scores of instances in which the Waystation failed to establish and maintain programs of adequate veterinary care, including some that resulted in the death of a chimpanzee that was immobilized in an unsafe cage.

Visitors have been prohibited at the Waystation since September 2001, when Los Angeles County ordered the facility closed until it upgraded its wastewater disposal system, widened its roads to accommodate firetrucks and installed a 700,000-gallon water tank.

Colette has previously estimated the cost of those repairs at $5 million.

The county also is requiring the Waystation to conduct a detailed environmental review as part of its request for the renewal of its land-use permit. And the land-use permit is required before the county will issue the agency building permits for constructing new chimpanzee cages.

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(color) The Wildlife Waystation was founded by Martine Colette in 1969 as an around-the-clock animal care and rescue center.