Date: Fri 24-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SUZANN

Quick Words:

Susan-DeFrancesco-animals-DEP

Full Text:

Sandy Hook Woman Struggles To Keep Her Family Of Exotic Animals Together

(with cuts)

BY SUZANNA NYBERG

According to Susan DeFrancesco, if the DEP has its way, five of her animals

will be dead within the month.

A Newtown resident, Mrs DeFrancesco owns and operates East Coast Exotic Zoo.

There she keeps Snowy, an Arctic fox; Spirit, a Silver Tip fox; Alexis and

Zaphanja, Bengal cats; and Nala, a Reed or Jungle cat. She also has guinea

hens, wallabies, chinchillas, and Angora rabbits.

Mrs DeFrancesco has raised many of these animals since they were babies, and

her children have played with them since they were toddlers. "I love to play

with them," said Louie, Mrs DeFrancesco's seven-year-old son. "They're so

playful. When I throw the ball for Snowy she runs to find it."

The DEP's complaint is not with the way Mrs DeFrancesco treats the animals,

but instead with the way she treats people. They demand that she do several

things such as set regular hours and establish a board of trustees for her

zoo. They have given her a 30-day ultimatum to establish East Coast Exotic Zoo

as a bona fide nature center. If she is not able to comply, the DEP will

confiscate the animals and either destroy them or make an attempt to find them

new homes.

Mrs DeFrancesco is not willing to part with the animals. "They have such high

intelligence," she said. "They are used to what they're used to and they know

what they know; to take them out of this environment will in itself destroy

them."

Two-year-old Snowy came from a fur farm in Ohio, where she was to be

slaughtered for her coat. An Arctic fox, her white coat blends with her native

Alaskan habitat and then turns blue in summer. Mrs DeFrancesco brought Snowy

for the educational shows that she routinely holds throughout the state; these

shows allow humans to see that animals do indeed have personalities. "If

people see these animals up close, then perhaps they won't want to wear them,"

Mrs DeFrancesco said. "Just maybe, they'll feel bad."

Mrs DeFrancesco describes Snowy as a sweet-tempered, barking, dog-like fox.

"She loves to run in circles and catch her ball," she said. "She likes to have

her stomach rubbed and to eat sliced apples." Mrs DeFrancesco recalled one

occasion where Snowy escaped from her pen into the woods; a couple hours

later, like a tiny white dot, she came bolting from the trees and jumped into

Mrs DeFrancesco's arms.

If Snowy has any fault at all, it is that she takes advantage of her friend,

Spirit.

A Silver Tip fox, Spirit is bigger and fluffier than Snowy. He is a mutation,

a cross of many different foxes, bred solely for fur. "Spirit is shy and

smart," Mrs DeFrancesco said. "He looks at a situation, studies it carefully,

and takes time to get to know someone." Mrs DeFrancesco attributes his shyness

to hybridization; she says that this cross-breeding simultaneously makes an

animal hyper-nervous and harmless.

Spirit and Snowy are playmates; he waits anxiously for her return when Mrs

DeFrancesco takes her to school shows and then barks and tries to climb the

fence upon her arrival. He lets Snowy eat and drink first; he never complains

when she takes his food from him. "Spirit worships the ground Snowy walks on,"

Mrs DeFrancesco said. "To separate them would be to kill them."

Mrs DeFrancesco also has two Bengal cats, Alexis and Zaphanja. Similar to a

tabby, a Bengal cat is a domestic cat that was crossed generations ago with

the Asian Leopard cat, a four pound feline from India. This cross-breeding

gave the cats their distinctive spots. These cats have since been bred down,

Bengal to Bengal, to retain their spots, much like the Egyptian Mau or Ocicat.

Alexis looks like an ordinary gray tabby. "She is a sweet, loving cat," said

Mrs DeFrancesco. "Anyone can play with her; she loves to sit on someone's

lap."

Alexis's playfulness gets her into mischief; she likes to jump in the prairie

dogs' pen and tease them; they, in turn, come to life and chase her.

Not everyone can play with Zaphanja. Zaphanja, 4, came from a breeder in South

Dakota, where he spent the first six months of his life unattended, unloved,

and locked in a cage. "Zaphanja is scared of his shadow," Mrs DeFrancesco

said. "Although he has gotten better, he still runs and hides." Noting that he

has achieved a modicum of trust, she said that he will cautiously approach

her, look at her finger, sniff it, and then scoot away. "It will be his death

if he's taken," Mrs DeFrancesco said. "He shakes and trembles when he goes to

the vet, and if he is removed from here, he will die of the shock."

Laws Aren't Uniform

According to Mrs DeFrancesco, laws regarding wild animals are not uniform. For

example, the federal government views the Basenji, a small dog from Africa

that has retained its wild ancestry, as a canus domestica that can be AKC

registered. Conversely, the Bengal cat is still considered wild.

Nala, a Reed cat, was the first type of cat to be domesticated ever. The

ancient Egyptians used them to flush waterfowl from the reeds of the Nile;

they mummified them and buried them in pharaohs' tombs.

"Nala makes the rules," Mrs DeFrancesco said. "She eats first and decides who

gets to eat next." Nala uses a chain link as a swing; she also likes to pick

things apart to determine how they work. Mrs DeFrancesco attributes this

curiosity to her high intelligence and non-domestic background. "The more an

animal has to live by her wits, the smarter the animal is," she said.

All of these animals are accustomed to life with Mrs DeFrancesco's family. To

remove them, she feels, would be akin to removing a child from his home or an

elderly parent from her family.

To comply with the DEP's mandate, Mrs DeFrancesco needs a parcel of land zoned

for farming or commercial use. She must establish it as a nature center with

non-profit status; she must also make it handicapped accessible. She has less

than three weeks to do all this. Anyone who may be able to help Mrs

DeFrancesco can contact her at 203/270-9140 or 203/426-6316.