Kids break into farm and abuse petting zoo animals, owners find out on social media
The owners of an animal farm and market are outraged after discovering on social media that a group of teenagers broke into their farm, stole from their market, and even rode their donkeys in the petting zoo after putting lipstick on one of them.
The incident occurred at approximately 10 p.m. when Jimmy Abma, a fourth-generation farmer of Abma Farms in Wyckoff, New Jersey, got a Snapchat photo of a teenage girl sitting on one of his donkeys.
Abma, who lives on the farm with his wife, immediately went to go investigate and found about a half-dozen teenagers running around the premises before allegedly taking off with farm property.
“We must explain the seriousness of this break in,” Abma Farms posted on their Facebook page in the aftermath of the trespassing and break in. “First and foremost, we are a working farm, and four families (and four generations) live here. This is our home. Second, from a human safety standpoint, breaking in to animal pens with no animal training is dangerous. Animals can kick, rear up, and trample you. In the dark, anything can happen. Third, the safety of OUR animals has been compromised and that IS. NOT. OKAY. Our animals are now shaken and skiddish (sic) compared to their normal relaxed nature. This is very troubling to us. A couple of our animals got loose from gates left open but after thoroughly searching this morning, all animals are accounted for.”
Abma spoke to ABC News’ New York City station WABC and said that his biggest concern at the moment is the animals.
“All the gates were open in the pens, a couple of the animals you couldn’t even get close to,” Abma told WABC. “They were all skittish, they were all jumping around. This our house. This is our yard. This is our livelihood. With something like this, it is almost like you just get sucker punched in the side and you really have to go around say ‘is it really worth it? Do I really need to keep my zoo open for all these frustrations?’”
Abma Farms said that their barnyard will be closed on Monday so that a veterinarian can complete a full wellness and health check on all animals.
As for the suspects involved with the trespassing and break in of Abma Farms, Jimmy Abma says that they are grateful for the “outpouring of love and support” he has received from the community but, ultimately, he wants the perpetrators caught and to pay for what they have done.
“Everybody has been concerned, everybody is concerned about the animals, the well-being of everything that has gone on,” said Abma. “Everybody wants us to bring these kids up to speed and make sure that they have to deal with what they did.”
