BRANSON WEST, Mo. -- A fire marshal for the Southern Stone County Fire Department says the Interactive Zoo and Aquarium, formerly known as Predator World, can't be open for business. The fire marshal on Friday pulled the occupancy permit after a surprise inspection.

The Stone County Sheriff's Department, the Humane Society of Missouri's Animal Cruelty Task Force, and Fire Marshal David Gyger served a search warrant on the business on Friday morning. The Humane Society did not remove any animals.

"There's a number of problems here," director of the Animal Cruelty Task Force, Tim Rickey, said. "I'm glad the sheriff stepped up. We'll check back to see if these issues are corrected."

Sheriff Richard Hill said one reason for the warrant is he's been asking the business for a list of its exotic animals for years. Hill says the owner, Breck Wakefield, repeatedly has refused to provide one, as required by law.

"We've given (Wakefield) ample opportunity, he failed to do so," Sheriff Hill said.

"If there's a tornado or a fire and the animals get free, we need to know what kind of animals we're dealing with."

Gyger cited several reasons for pulling the occupancy permit, including faulty wiring, the overuse of electric extension cords, water dripping in electrical fuse boxes, and other fire hazards. He said it could take several months to make the corrections.

This is not the first time the Interactive Zoo and Aquarium, formerly known as Predator World, has had problems; see the list of past reports under Related Contents.