Five lemurs at 4J Conservation Center in Florida were found with empty, dry water bowls during a June U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection, so thirsty they drank the moment staff filled the bowls. The same inspection found cages rusted through, with holes and jagged bars that could injure the animals or let them escape.

4J breeds and sells lemurs and keeps other exotic animals for public display. Its ability to trade these animals depends on a federal wildlife permit renewed every five years, a renewal that should not be a rubber stamp when a facility cannot even keep animals watered and safely caged.

From 2020 to 2024, more than 40 lemurs from 4J went to Jungle Island, a Miami park charging visitors $85 to feed and handle them, according to PETA. Animals like these often cycle between breeding facilities, roadside attractions, and private buyers with little independent oversight in between.

Lemurs are intelligent, social animals, and leaving them thirsty or caged behind rusted, broken bars causes real harm. A facility that fails this badly on basic care should not get to keep operating just because it holds the right paperwork.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can enforce the Animal Welfare Act and hold 4J's permits to real conditions until every enclosure is repaired and its care is independently verified. Sign the petition to demand real enforcement, before more lemurs are left thirsty in cages falling apart around them.