Group files complaint over elephant death at OKC Zoo
A Seattle animal welfare group has filed a complaint with the Oklahoma State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners against an Oklahoma City Zoo veterinarian in connection with the January death of Chai, a 37-yearold Asian elephant at the zoo.
Zoo veterinarian Jennifer D’Agostino was named in the complaint filed by Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, which opposed the relocation of Chai and another Asian elephant, Bamboo, to Oklahoma City from Seattle last year.
The group alleges D’Agostino provided substandard care to Chai and had a careless disregard for her health, welfare and safety. The group also cited concerns about what they claimed were inadequate record keeping, the use of false or deceptive statements in documents and conduct likely to deceive the public.
Cathy Kirkpatrick, Oklahoma State Board of Veterinary Medicine executive director, said a probable cause committee made up of five veterinarians and one lay person is reviewing the complaint. If probable cause is found, D’Agostino would be required to appear before the board, Kirkpatrick said.
Typical complaints can take 45 to 60 days to process, but Kirkpatrick said this complaint is more complex than the 125 or so the department receives each year. Most are over fee disputes between veterinarians and their customers, she said.
D’Agostino has been licensed in Oklahoma since December 2003. There have been no previous complaints filed against her. Kirkpatrick, who has worked at the agency for 19 years, was unaware of any previous complaints lodged against the zoo. The board can sanction veterinarians and revoke their licenses if misconduct is found to have occurred.
The Seattle group also has requested that the U.S. Agriculture Department look into veterinary practices at the zoo. The USDA is looking into Chai’s death to determine if Animal Welfare Act noncompliance may have contributed to it, but there is no open investigation at this time, a spokeswoman said.
The Seattle group believes warning signs leading up to Chai’s death were ignored by D’Agostino and also has concerns about Bamboo’s medical care.
“Based on the appearance that Chai received substandard care under Dr. D’Agostino, we have grave concerns about the level of care Bamboo is receiving for her captivity-related medical issues, as well as the health of the other elephants,” said Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo.
The complaint, written by a Seattle veterinarian working with the group, details a long list of inconsistencies and misdiagnoses of health problems the group gleaned from open records requests. The group said D’Agostino failed to give adequate concern to weight loss Chai was experiencing during her time in Oklahoma City, nearly 1,000 pounds over eight months.
“Dr. D’Agostino was either oblivious to Chai’s deterioration and suffering or she knew about it but chose to ignore it, or she failed to provide proper monitoring, care and treatment because of general incompetence in her role as a director of veterinary services and as a licensed veterinarian in the State of Oklahoma,” veterinarian Julia Allen wrote in her complaint to the board.
The zoo has pushed back against the allegations. Executive Director Dwight Lawson said zoos have an important role to play in the battle to save elephants from extinction.
“Our detractors with personal agendas to ultimately shut down and hinder these efforts come at a price,” Lawson said. “These groups have long been manipulating facts and science to meet their goal to forever close the very places that are working to help save these magnificent animals.”
Lawson denied the zoo has not been forthcoming with information regarding its elephant program. He also praised D’Agostino and her 15 years of work in zoo medicine.
“She is a board-certified specialist in zoological medicine from the American College of Zoological Medicine,” Lawson said. “The complaints being lodged against her are coming from individuals with little to no experience with these animals.”
The Oklahoma County sheriff’s office has released a sketch of the woman found dead in her pajamas last month near Nicoma Park.
Sheriff John Whetsel said the woman’s body was found in a ditch near NE 32 and Westminster Road about 7:30 a.m. March 31 by a resident of the area.
“Investigators believe she may have been placed in that location, in the ditch, by around 2 a.m. on early Thursday morning. So far we have not been able to identify this lady. Today we are asking our citizens to help us identify this woman, shown in the sketch,” Whetsel said.
The woman is described as a light-skinned black female, about 18 to 24 years old, weighing about 90 to 95 pounds and about 4 feet, 11 inches tall. She had an Afro haircut, light brown eyes, a small gap between her upper front teeth and was wearing a pink tank top, pink sweatpant pajama bottoms with hearts and was barefoot, a news release states.
The sheriff said no personal effects other than a “blue with green and yellow swirl striped fleece blanket” were found next to the body.
No trauma
Whetsel said the state medical examiner’s office reported no signs of trauma to the body and is working to determine cause of death. He said that despite the woman not wearing any shoes and being found next to a dirt road, the body was clean.
“There wasn’t a business nearby, so just being on a clear piece of land there, just everything is strange and unusual,” he said.
“One possibility, with the lack of trauma, is that this woman may have overdosed on drugs and someone after that point then brought her and dumped her at this location. We are still waiting on the toxicology reports from the medical examiner for an exact cause of death,” he said.
To help
Whetsel said anyone with information about the woman’s identity should call investigators at 713-1017.
“This woman is someone’s daughter, a sister, or maybe a mother herself. She needs to be identified,” he said.