SHOW ME THE MONEY! NO REFUNDS FOR SAFARISĮyewitness News began digging into Malibu Wine Safaris after viewers reached out to complain that they'd booked safaris either before or during the pandemic and cannot get refunds. Jesse Harbison, general manager of Malibu Wine Safaris, spoke with our producer briefly by phone, but declined to comment on the permit issues because of "ongoing litigation." "Stanley was sheltered in place as per our evacuation plan," Dakota Semler said in an interview with ABC News at the time, adding that Stanley was moved into an area with no fuel around it.īut the uproar focused renewed scrutiny of the ranch and may have pressured county and state animal control officers to finally crack down on the lack of permits.Įyewitness News repeatedly reached out to Dakota and Ron Semler and received no response. In the aftermath of that fire, social media erupted when people learned that Stanley and most other animals on the ranch were not evacuated. What's odd is that even though county animal control officers did regular inspections at the ranch for years, they did not take action on the lack of licenses until after the Woolsey Fire. Eyewitness News found reports dating back to 2015 that ordered Malibu Wine Safaris to apply for a license with Animal Care and Control. Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who explained that Stanley was "seized in place" because it's no easy task to move an 18-foot tall giraffe.ĭakota Semler, owner and CEO of Malibu Wine Safaris, is facing misdemeanor criminal charges of "maintaining an animal facility or a wild animal without a license."īut that's not true. "Right now, they're in unlawful possession of a giraffe," says Capt. Stanley, famous for his selfies with celebrities and a cameo in "The Hangover Part III" is for now, still located at the sprawling Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu where he's lived since 2015 among other animals like zebras, water buffalos, camels and llamas.īut Eyewitness News has learned that members of the Semler family, who own the ranch and Malibu Wine Safaris, have never held the required county permits to operate a business with wild animals. (KABC) - Stanley the giraffe of Malibu Wine Safaris is at the center of two pending criminal trials and has been "seized in place" as evidence by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Meanwhile, dozens of people are fighting to get refunds from Malibu Wine Safaris. On the positive side, we did the “Flight of Voices” hike and concert, so we encountered musicians along the trail who were great, and the concert was fantastic! Every musician was very talented and the voices were superb - such a great way to enjoy the music outside on the lawn with some very good wine.Stanley, L.A.'s most famous giraffe, is at the center of two misdemeanor criminal trials and has been "seized in place" as evidence by the state. How about a couple giraffes for the Malibu ranch? The description when I bought the tickets set my expectations to see some exotic animals, so when I asked about it, we were told they did have zebras and giraffes and other cool animals but they were sent to Texas for a new location they were starting up. The biggest disappointment though, was that there were NO ANIMALS on the hike. Our guide Brooke was very sweet and engaging and answered questions that we asked, but I was disappointed that this was just a hike with no real tour or explanation offered about what we were seeing along the hike, so we only learned what we asked about along the way, and only a couple of us in the front would have heard any of that.
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