AUGUSTA — About a dozen animal rights activists stood outside the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife offices Friday, protesting the way the agency has handled DEW Haven, a roadside zoo in Mount Vernon that displays lions, tigers and other exotic animals.

Among the protesters was Kristina Snyder, a New Hampshire woman who has raised numerous allegations about DEW Haven’s treatment of animals. She has been trying to get DIF&W to investigate the case of Baghwa, a male lion that was killed there in 2006 after it left an enclosure.

About a dozen protesters hold signs Friday outside the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife headquarters in Augusta, demanding that the department investigate DEW Haven in Mount Vernon. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

“There’s been a history of issues regarding that facility,” said Snyder, who carried a sign that read: “IF&W, WE DEMAND JUSTICE FOR BAGHWA!”

But Mark Latti, spokesman for the department, said DEW Haven reported the lion’s killing a couple of days after it happened and that the agency found no rule violations.

The agency has received no complaints about DEW Haven in recent years, and the zoo regularly has passed its annual inspections, said Judy Camuso, wildlife director for DIF&W. It also passed an unannounced inspection last fall. “We take all complaints very seriously,” Camuso said. “All of our staff care compassionately about all species of wildlife in Maine.”

In an emailed statement, Julie Miner, who owns DEW Haven with her husband, Bob, also said the killing of Baghwa was reported to state and federal officials.

“The radical animal activists that are targeting DEW Haven have a set agenda,” Miner said. “It isn’t the care of animals. It is to have no animals in the care of people. … They waste our tax dollars, and time, by putting in complaints that have been found invalid by entities that license us.”

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