Margate's City Commission, backed by animal-welfare advocates, has thrown up a big red light in front of a proposed sloth-encounter storefront pitched for the Broward strip-mall corridor. The idea came from exotic-animal exhibitor Larry Wallach, whose Long Island storefront was previously shut down after court orders and federal inspection findings. His Florida pitch landed just as outrage over dozens of sloths killed at an Orlando attraction was still raw. Commissioners denied his first application on code grounds, and Wallach says he plans to reapply and seek federal licensure for a new Florida outpost.
City meeting turned into a protest
What started as a routine June commission agenda item turned into something closer to a rally, with Wallach reportedly showing up at City Hall with a live sloth in tow and opponents packing the room, according to Local 10. Animal advocates said the move felt "tone-deaf" in light of the Orlando deaths and accused Wallach of exploiting wildlife for profit. Commissioners ultimately rejected the storefront proposal based on code issues, though they told him he is allowed to resubmit.
Neighbors and officials raised alarms
Outside City Hall, about a dozen activists gathered with signs while speakers urged commissioners to block the proposed unit at 1615 N. State Road 7, arguing that the business risked repeating the same conditions that preceded the Orlando fatalities, as reported by the Miami Herald. Humane Long Island’s John Di Leonardo flew in to warn city leaders about Wallach’s track record, and Margate Commissioner Joanne Simone said she did not want the business operating in the city at all. Protest signs repeatedly referenced the sloth deaths in Orlando, which have become a central rallying point for local opponents.
New York history follows the exhibitor
Wallach’s Long Island storefront, known as "Sloth Encounters," was ordered closed by a New York court after repeated town-code violations and federal inspection problems, and federal officials declined to reissue his exhibitor license in 2024, according to reporting by Central Florida Public Media. Public records and inspection reports detail dozens of Animal Welfare Act citations and episodes that inspectors described as mishandling and unsafe housing. Wallach has told reporters that his sloths "come from breeders" and that he intends to pursue new federal licensure for a Florida location, a point he has repeated in archived interviews with news outlets.
Undercover footage raised red flags
An undercover investigation released by Humane World for Animals and the Humane Society captured footage the groups say shows staff striking and crowding sloths and encouraging unsafe public handling, material that helped trigger follow-up inspections and enforcement actions. The organizations say the video shows a spray bottle being used on sloths, animals pushed from perches, and multiple people inside a cramped enclosure, conditions that experts say can cause chronic stress. Those visuals have become a key piece of the argument activists now bring to local governments when they urge officials to block hands-on sloth exhibits.
State regulators tighten import rules
The Orlando sloth deaths also pushed the broader commercial sloth trade under a brighter spotlight and prompted formal complaints from groups including PETA, which has pressed local and state authorities to shut down what it views as risky wildlife encounters. In response at the regulatory level, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Captive Wildlife office now requires a dedicated Wildlife Importation Permit for sloth species, instead of allowing them under blanket import authorizations, according to the agency’s guidance. That extra review step gives state officials more leverage to scrutinize anyone trying to import or exhibit sloths in Florida.
What the law means for Margate
The legal backdrop is layered. Civil court orders and repeated USDA inspection findings followed Wallach for years in New York, and federal authorities ultimately declined to relicense his operation in 2024, according to reporting cited by regulators and advocates. In Margate, it was municipal zoning and code enforcement, not federal licensing, that stopped this first storefront bid, and city officials say any future application can be rejected on code or public-safety grounds. Activists say they plan to push both state and local officials to use every available permit and inspection tool before any sloth is cleared for public encounters.
For now, the Margate proposal remains denied, and opponents say they are watching closely for any resubmission. With regulators across Florida tightening import and exhibition rules and local leaders openly skeptical, any future attempt by Wallach to open a sloth-encounter storefront in the city is likely to draw more scrutiny, more protests, and another packed night at City Hall.
