New allegations of horrific abuse and death — including a drowned mountain lion — at notorious ‘roadside zoo’ on Long Island

A notorious Long Island “roadside zoo’’ covered up the deaths of scores of horrifically abused animals in its care — including a mountain lion that drowned, according to an ex-government public-safety officer.

Meredith Tinsley, a former longtime Brookhaven officer whose duties included patrolling the Holtsville Wildlife & Ecology Center, has joined other whistleblowers in slamming the center, adding her own morbid claims of stomach-churning animal neglect — as well allegations of a cover-up.

Tinsley told The Post that center higher-ups directed her to not report the deaths of the mountain lion and other tragic creatures — or when an eagle went missing — while working in the 2000s and early 2010s.

“It is the general consensus to lie, to defraud, to pretend like nothing is happening,” Tinsley, 55, said of the troubled refuge, which has been managed by the town of Brookhaven’s highway department since it opened in the 1970s.

Tinsley testified at an explosive Brookhaven town board meeting Thursday, along with several ex-staffers of the facility, which has come under fire over allegations of woefully inadequate veterinary care and deadly animal neglect.

The group leveled hair-raising allegations ranging from animals dying from exposure to unauthorized staff cutting into the creatures with razor blades — resulting, at times, in permanent disabilities. 

When the zoo couldn’t locate an eagle in its care, “I was told, ‘Don’t say anything to anybody, we can’t let anybody know we lost the eagle,’ ” Tinsley said. “I called 911. I reported it.”

She said she was frequently told by some higher-ups that if missing animals were reported to authorities or up the work chain, “We won’t get any funding.

“We just have to wait until we the funding,” she claimed she was told.

A mountain lion also drowned in its enclosure one night – and Tinsley said staffers were told by bosses, “Don’t tell anybody, because we’ll never get another mountain lion.”

The lion’s enclosure wasn’t cleaned before its replacement was ushered in, she added — a protocol that Tinsley claims was customary.

Then its replacement wasn’t eating, so it was fed anti-anxiety meds, said Tinsley — who was fired in 2013. The ex-employee, who is black, said she was fired because of racism.

Rose Lynch, a staffer at a local animal hospital that treated the center’s Peking duck Nessy for lead poisoning, told the town board it was “heartbreaking that [the bird’s] injuries had become so severe, especially in human care.

“Throughout this process, it was made abundantly clear that the Holtsville Ecology Site wanted to work against medical advice … and categorically refus[ed] to get any of their other water fowl tested for lead poisoning,” Lynch said.

The local activist group Humane Long Island claims roughly a dozen animals have died in the center’s care in the past year alone — but that many of the deaths would have been preventable with proper medical care.

The Brookhaven Highway Department did not return a Post request for comment.

But Dan Losquadro, Brookhaven’s superintendent of highways, defended the sanctuary at Thursday’s board meeting, claiming it has passed USDA audits “many times” — including a recent unannounced inspection.

“The care of the animals is of paramount importance to this entire town board,” Panico insisted. “We’re conducting our own investigation into what is fact and what is fiction, and we at the end will make a decision.”

Brookhaven officials announced the town planned to launch its own internal probe, as well. An investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which licenses the refuge, is already under way.

A dossier of alleged neglect compiled by Humane Long Island and shared with The Post detailed more disturbing allegations that run the gamut.

The research claims the highway department secretary was instructed “to ignore any tips about her and to void any complaints about the Ecology Site at large” when a hybrid wolf went missing in 2018.

Incidents of animals escaping the refuge were continuous over the years, from the eagle and hybrid wolf to a domestic cat and a pine marten named Betty and a goat named JB, the document says.

Betty was reportedly later found in a storm drain.

Concerns about the disappearances were often dismissed, the group says.

There were plenty of other troubling complaints, too.

When upwards of 15 birds were crammed into too-small cages, a supervisor dismissed the abusive situation, saying, “They’re husband or wife” or, “That’s her pimp,” Tinsley told The Post.

Another former Holtsville staffer, Kaitlyn Lombardi, said at the meeting that she quit a few days into the job last year after witnessing animals stuffed into “cramped, deteriorating” enclosures. 

“Staff members seemed to rationalize the conditions, and nobody seemed to care about addressing the issues,” said Lombardi, alleging that some animals were often left unfed.

While activists such as Humane Long Island Executive Director John Di Leonardo say the antiquated zoo must be shuttered permanently, Tinsley said she wouldn’t mind seeing it reopen one day.

“You can bring it back after it’s cleaned up and cleaned out,” she said, “and make sure those animals are taken care of, make sure they have the proper care.

“[Right now], it’s an unacceptable establishment.”