TROUTMAN, N.C. -- A massive display of Christmas lights and live animals is getting a lot of attention in Troutman.
It is called the Zootastic Christmas Wonderland of Lights and boasts more than a million lights spread out over 40 rural acres off Oswalt Amity Road.
After driving a winding road through lighted trees and displays, there are pony rides and a petting zoo.
The owner is Scotty Brown, who caught the attention of the NewsChannel 36 I-Team last summer. Brown was keeping a number of exotic animals in a field. Some were sick, and a zebra and an emu died.
Brown said he was building what was to become a sort of frontier-style town and zoo on his property and was showing off the animals at various petting zoos.
Asked back in May if he needed a permit, Brown told NewsChannel 36, "No. Most places you don't have to have a permit."
That comment caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Inspectors told Brown he was wrong about not needing a permit and they inspected his animals to make sure they were OK. Brown said they were sick from eating tainted food and insisted he was taking good care of them.
Asked Tuesday if there were permits for the animals at the Wonderland of Lights, Brown's son, Jerod, said, "Yes. We are fully permitted by the USDA and everything is set there and we are fully licensed for that."
A spokesperson for the department confirmed that the family is now a fully licensed exhibitor.
Jerod Brown said the family had invested too much money to risk getting into trouble.
"We have $2 million invested in this from our family, so we want this to be successful and we want the community to enjoy the facility and it is a first class facility," Brown said.
The cost to visit the Wonderland of Lights is $5 per person or $20 per car.
