{"id":4690,"date":"2026-06-19T14:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:33:07","slug":"a-sloth-exhibitor-shut-down-in-new-york-wants-a-comeback-and-florida-licensed-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690","title":{"rendered":"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>An exotic animal exhibitor whose sloth-encounters business was shuttered by New York courts is attempting to relaunch his operations in Florida, right as the state grapples with the fallout from sloth deaths at a different tourist attraction.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4688\">Orlando Sentinel 150: Friday Flashback to planes on Colonial Drive<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Government inspectors repeatedly found problems at Larry Wallach\u2019s earlier businesses, including unsafe and unsanitary conditions for his sloths, kangaroos, tigers and capybaras, according to federal and state government records obtained by Inside Climate News. He continued operating his Long Island sloth business for more than a year after a 2023 court order to immediately close the location because of zoning violations, and the federal government declined to issue him a new wildlife-exhibition license in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Wallach has filed paperwork in Florida to run a new pet store and encounter business in Margate called Wildlife Adventures, featuring sloths, kangaroos, reptiles and birds. On Sunday, he told Inside Climate News in a text message that he expects to open the business in two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>To animal law experts and welfare groups, Wallach\u2019s attempted comeback highlights broader shortcomings in oversight of exotic animal exhibitors. They argue that weak laws and limited enforcement allow repeat offenders to continue acquiring animals, profiting from them and violating the law.<\/p>\n<p>Wallach \u2014 clutching a live sloth \u2014 appeared last month before the Margate City Commission, 25 miles north of Miami, to pitch the proposed business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been raising animals since I was like 15 \u2014 tigers, bears, lions, everything,\u201d Wallach said. \u201cBut my real love is for sloths, and I\u2019m looking to open up a store in Margate that would almost be very, very educational.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe allow=\"geolocation\" allowfullscreen=\"yes\" allowtransparency=\"1\" class=\"iframe\" height=\"450px\" id=\"6a354e2dbd787\" loading=\"lazy\" scrolling=\"yes\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d7156.826827658426!2d-80.20718220888719!3d26.24824278823233!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x88d9049630584977%3A0x23dd542445ed6102!2s1609-1615%20N%20State%20Rd%207%2C%20Margate%2C%20FL%2033063!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1781808504935!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sloths, tree-dwelling mammals from the tropical rainforests of South America, are extremely ill-suited to captivity, scientists say.<\/p>\n<p>Wallach\u2019s proposal comes as Florida officials are scrutinizing the commercial sloth trade following an Inside Climate News investigation in April into Sloth World, a separate planned tourist attraction that imported dozens of sloths from Peru and Guyana. More than 50 of those animals died. In May, state officials temporarily halted sloth imports and said they were pursuing a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p> <!--Ad-Slot: outstream_video--><\/p>\n<p>Wallach was not involved in that business. He told Inside Climate News he has owned 11 sloths and conducted between 25,000 and 30,000 public encounters with the animals over several years in New York. He said he would like to acquire more sloths to have about 20 at his new business.<\/p>\n<p>He also asserted that all of his sloths are captive-bred rather than imported from the wild and that his animals are well-suited for captivity. He declined to provide the names of the breeders or verification of the sloths\u2019 origin. State import records list Wallach as the recipient of two sloths brought into Florida in August 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Wallach told Inside Climate News those sloths were imported into Florida from another U.S. state. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not respond to multiple requests for clarification, but did say it approved Wallach\u2019s state license to display wildlife to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The agency \u201cis aware of Wallach\u2019s history of exhibiting wildlife outside the state and FWC investigators continue to monitor the situation actively,\u201d a spokesperson said in a written statement to Inside Climate News, adding: \u201cAny violations will be investigated and addressed immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <!--Ad-Slot: cube_article--><\/p>\n<p>Exotic animal exhibitors like Wallach must also obtain federal approval and are routinely inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA told Inside Climate News that Wallach no longer has a federal license after the agency denied his application for a new one in 2024 based on an Animal Welfare Act regulation that requires the USDA to deny licensing to applicants who have made false statements, violated the law, entered a plea of no contest to government allegations \u201cor is otherwise unfit to be licensed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold Somer, one of Wallach\u2019s attorneys, told Inside Climate News that his client\u2019s 2024 license application was denied because the \u201cUSDA had clearly been relying on unverified and incorrect information fed to it by others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wallach told Inside Climate News that he is now applying for another federal license and expects to get it, a point his attorney reiterated in a written statement.<\/p>\n<p>Wallach has been in the exotic animal exhibition business for decades. His early businesses \u2014 from a traveling menagerie to an Ohio mall storefront \u2014 featured tigers and other big cats. Wallach opened his Long Island \u201cSloth Encounters\u201d store in 2022. Throughout, Wallach has accrued dozens of infractions in USDA inspection reports, some the agency considered serious.<\/p>\n<p>Somer said his client appealed some USDA inspection reports, but those appeals were denied. \u201cAt no time while I have known Larry was he ever charged with animal cruelty by any government agency,\u201d Somer said in an email to Inside Climate News.<\/p>\n<p>In a series of wide-ranging interviews, Wallach described himself as a hands-on practitioner with a mission to educate the public about animals. He contended that USDA inspection reports have been misrepresented by critics and that enforcement standards vary from inspector to inspector. His animals, he said, are like his children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can look at a sloth by its coat and tell you what it\u2019s lacking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to the federal and state licenses he held over the years as evidence that he met legal requirements and blamed the recurring regulatory issues he\u2019s faced on animal welfare groups, which he disparaged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can make me look like this piece of s***,\u201d he said. \u201cThey think they\u2019re going to just run me down. They\u2019re very mistaken, they don\u2019t know how deep our pockets are. \u2026 I happen to be a really good animal person.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Crying tigers and a license suspension<\/h4>\n<p>Under U.S. law, animals are generally treated as property, leaving their welfare largely dependent on a patchwork of federal, state and local laws. The centerpiece of that framework is the federal Animal Welfare Act, which sets minimum standards of care for certain animals.<\/p>\n<p>Animal welfare experts, along with many lawyers and veterinarians, say that the USDA has a multi-decade history of failing to adequately enforce that law, with violators often receiving only warnings. The USDA\u2019s own watchdog has repeatedly underscored those concerns, most recently finding that limited staffing and resources have further hindered enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Congressional Research Service, as of March last year the USDA had just 115 inspectors and supervisors responsible for overseeing more than 12,000 organizations and individuals regulated under the Animal Welfare Act and another law, the Horse Protection Act. Between March 2025 and April 2026, its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, in which those inspectors work, lost about 21% of its staff, according to an Inside Climate News analysis of federal employment data. \u201cAPHIS is actively hiring Veterinary Medical Officers and other staff positions,\u201d a USDA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>Delcianna Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at Vermont Law and Graduate School, said Wallach\u2019s history mirrors the agency\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is someone who has openly defied the law, who has thumbed his nose at the USDA, and they\u2019ve never taken meaningful action,\u201d said Winders, who has tracked Wallach\u2019s operations for years as part of a coalition of lawyers and animal protection groups, compiling complaints, monitoring his exhibits and pressing the USDA to act.<\/p>\n<p>Winders said the USDA should treat Wallach\u2019s ongoing exhibiting without a federal license \u2014 documented in videos and on his website \u2014 as a clear violation, refuse to relicense him and refer his case to prosecutors for stronger enforcement instead of issuing more warnings. The USDA is legally required to refer serious cases to the Department of Justice and, in Winders\u2019 view, Wallach\u2019s case meets that threshold.<\/p>\n<p>But she said the USDA disregards that mandate, while the Justice Department\u2019s capacity to pursue animal welfare cases has dwindled. \u201cThey\u2019re just not using that authority now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>A USDA spokesperson said that when license holders violate the law, the agency works to bring them back into compliance quickly using enforcement actions \u201csuch as letters of warning, monetary penalties, license suspensions and revocations.\u201d Wallach described prosecution as an outlandish suggestion in his case and said that \u201canimal rights people just create havoc.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He contended that he is permitted to exhibit animals through other people\u2019s licenses. Asked to clarify whether that is correct, the USDA declined to say beyond noting that licenses are issued to specific persons, for specific activities and to approved sites.<\/p>\n<p>USDA inspection reports flagging problems with Wallach\u2019s exhibitions accumulated for years before regulators temporarily suspended his license in 2013. Inspectors continued to document problems after his license reinstatement, eventually giving him an \u201cofficial warning\u201d in 2024 for mishandling animals.<\/p>\n<p>As far back as 2003, USDA inspectors reported that animals were stored in unsafe conditions at Wallach\u2019s then-home in East Rockaway, N.Y., where tigers, lions, bears and other exotic wildlife could be found in his garage and on his back porch. Those reports also show that he lacked documentation tracking how his animals were acquired, sold or disposed of, inspectors wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4686\">Bianchi: Sean Sweeney comes with the edge the Magic need \u2013 and the pressure he can\u2019t escape<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wallach told Inside Climate News that the fencing around his animals at his former home in Long Island complied with USDA requirements until the agency changed its regulations and he typically addressed inspection issues the same day.<\/p>\n<p>Federal officials detailed public safety hazards such as displaying a juvenile tiger in an open-top, unlocked enclosure during a 2008 public exhibition in South Carolina. Members of the public were allowed to lean into the enclosure and handle the tethered animal\u2019s head and neck, regulators alleged in court records.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010, one of Wallach\u2019s tigers \u201cwas observed to be visibly upset and exhibited stress and discomfort by crying, and rubbing its body against the cage\u2019s sides, and the tiger was observed to continue to have lesions on its nose from abrading against the enclosure wire,\u201d according to the court records. Another USDA report documented a similar incident with a tiger cub the same year.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about this, Wallach told Inside Climate News that a tiger rubbing up against its fencing is not upset.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a tiger that\u2019s happy and just like scratching his own body,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Denise Flores worked for Wallach at his Ohio mall storefront, where in the early 2000s shoppers could have their photos taken with tigers and other animals. She described a high-volume business model where animals were on display throughout the mall\u2019s operating hours with little or no breaks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just thought it was too much,\u201d Flores said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2013 the USDA suspended Wallach\u2019s exhibitor license for six months for Animal Welfare Act violations across multiple states, including Florida. Wallach agreed to the suspension without admitting or denying the allegations, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>Government officials said in those records that Wallach had \u201cnot shown good faith\u201d in his dealings with them, and they described serious violations. Among them: a failure to provide adequate nutrition and veterinary care to tigers, one of which had hair loss and neurological problems.<\/p>\n<p>Wallach denied his animals lacked proper nutrition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of my animals ever had issues,\u201d he said. \u201cFor them to say nutrition, that\u2019s total b*******, because if you saw my food bill and what I\u2019ve spent on them, you\u2019d know something\u2019s not kosher.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New York regulators identified problems, too. In 2016, the state\u2019s Department of Environmental Conservation penalized him for allowing prohibited public contact with a tiger cub and possessing the animal without a license, according to the agency. The DEC cited Wallach again in 2020 for similar violations.<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, he pleaded guilty to a New York violation-level offense involving the commercial sale of protected Nile monitor lizards. Wallach told Inside Climate News his distributor was to blame.<\/p>\n<h4>Encountering sloths<\/h4>\n<p>Wallach opened Sloth Encounters in 2022 in a sprawling Long Island suburb about 50 miles east of Manhattan, where strip malls and warehouses mark a landscape far from the tropical forests where sloths live.<\/p>\n<p>There, he converted a former pool-supply location into a pet store and sloth encounter room surrounded by chain-link fencing and filled with wooden branches, artificial vines and LED strip lights, according to court documents, photographs and Nicole Rice, a former employee. Inside, customers could get up close to the sloths for $50 a person.<\/p>\n<p>USDA inspectors continued raising concerns. In 2023 the agency documented signs of stress in sloths during public encounters, improper handling of a juvenile kangaroo and environmental conditions deemed unsuitable for a sloth\u2019s care.<\/p>\n<p>A 2024 inspection report, based on video evidence from a Humane World for Animals investigation, said an employee repeatedly struck a sloth with a spray bottle while attempting to separate it from another sloth.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, at least four visitors were inside the enclosure with seven sloths. One sloth, the report said, fell to the ground. Another sustained injuries around its nose and mouth. Inspectors noted Wallach was also filmed grabbing distressed sloths by the back of the neck.<\/p>\n<p>Wallach told Inside Climate News that he believes grabbing sloths there is a safe way to restrain them. He also recalled the bottle incident, noting that two of his larger male sloths were fighting and \u201ccan do a lot of damage to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe girl who was hitting the sloths with the bottle was doing exactly what she should have done,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Federal inspection records also showed that the facility had a black fly infestation \u201cin the store front (housing the capybaras and kangaroo), sloth exhibit area, and kitchen,\u201d and that multiple defects posed a danger to animals. There were sharp edges in the kangaroo enclosure, for instance, and damage to the artificial grass floor of the capybara enclosure, inspectors said in January 2024. Wallach defended conditions at the location, saying they were pristine and customers gave him high ratings.<\/p>\n<p>Government officials also documented misleading statements.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, federal inspectors questioned Wallach after receiving a complaint about a sloth bite at his store. Wallach denied that any visitor had been bitten during a sloth encounter, according to a USDA inspection report.<\/p>\n<p>That report says inspectors later obtained records from the county health department confirming that a customer had been \u201cbitten and\/or scratched\u201d by a sloth \u2014 the department issued an order requiring that the sloth be confined for 30 days for observation for rabies symptoms, which Wallach signed nearly two weeks before he denied the incident to inspectors. Wallach told Inside Climate News that he signed the order to avoid consequences for the sloth.<\/p>\n<p>USDA officials also wrote that Wallach told inspectors his customers feed sloths using tongs, despite social media photos posted days later appearing to show children and adults feeding the animals by hand.<\/p>\n<p>In Sloth Encounters\u2019 final 14 months, Wallach was operating it in defiance of a court order. The New York Supreme Court directed him in March 2023 to cease operations at the Islip store based on repeated violations of the city\u2019s zoning laws, then held him in civil contempt for not following through. He said he closed the store in June 2024 when his USDA exhibitor license expired.<\/p>\n<p>Rice, who said she was friends with Wallach\u2019s daughter before working at Sloth Encounters, said she quit after a few months because she had serious concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just a money grab,\u201d she said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t treating the animals well. \u2026 He wasn\u2019t putting the animals first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One incident in which Wallach exhibited exotic animals after his federal license expired was at a recent elementary school graduation in Margate.<\/p>\n<p>In a video posted to Facebook by Margate Commissioner Tommy Ruzzano on May 27, Wallach parades a sloth through a crowd of dozens of people alongside an armed Margate police officer holding a small blanket-wrapped kangaroo.<\/p>\n<p>Ruzzano captioned the video: \u201cA Kangaroo, a Sloth, a Cock a too and a partridge in a pair tree as Principal Thomas Schroeder would say! What a great graduation and thanks Larry Wallach for bringing the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ruzzano did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>At the May 6 commission meeting where Wallach made his pitch to the council, Ruzzano introduced him as an animal lover with \u201cevery kind of animal license you could imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do a lot for communities,\u201d Wallach said, standing at the microphone in ripped jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, a sloth clinging to his torso. \u201cBest of all, what we do is hands-on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Inside Climate News\u2019 Peter Aldhous contributed reporting to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and shared in partnership with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media and the Tampa Bay Times.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4684\">Property tax cuts could end up squeezing some Florida renters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An exotic animal exhibitor whose sloth-encounters business was shut down by New York courts is attempting to relaunch his operations in South Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An exotic animal exhibitor whose sloth-encounters business was shut down by New York courts is attempting to relaunch his operations in South Florida.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T14:33:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T14:33:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690\"},\"wordCount\":2811,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Florida News\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690\",\"name\":\"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him - Orlando Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T14:33:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4690#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Orlando Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him - Orlando Relocation Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him - Orlando Relocation Report","og_description":"An exotic animal exhibitor whose sloth-encounters business was shut down by New York courts is attempting to relaunch his operations in South Florida.","og_url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690","og_site_name":"Orlando Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T14:33:07+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"headline":"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him","datePublished":"2026-06-19T14:33:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690"},"wordCount":2811,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp","articleSection":["Florida News","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690","name":"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him - Orlando Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-19T14:33:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0cdba66184e6400d4e1e66a3343b6f09.webp","width":1000,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4690#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A sloth exhibitor shut down in New York wants a comeback \u2014 and Florida licensed him"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/","name":"Orlando Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}