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Stephanie Angel, a chronic animal exploiter, has started a shameful new grift in Fort Lauderdale. Angel has opened another Capybara Café—a facility that allows the public to interact with capybaras purely for entertainment—in apparent violation of the city’s ordinances. Angel has a dark history of exploiting animals. In July 2025, Angel was hit with multiple critical citations after four young capybaras died at one of her other facilities without adequate veterinary care.
Capybara Cafés are horrible for the animals exploited there. Capybaras naturally spend their days swimming, submerging themselves in water, and basking on the muddy shores of rivers and swamps in South America. However, in these unnatural Capybara Cafés, these animals are forced to interact with humans under artificial lighting, on hard floors, with nothing natural in sight. Capybaras deserve better, and we are asking the Mayor of Fort Lauderdale to shut this down!
With this new facility, Angel apparently bypassed several local zoning regulations that do not allow wild animals to be displayed. This comes as no surprise, as Angel has a long history of bending the rules and breaking laws. Earlier this year, St. Johns County issued Angel a citation for violating multiple sections of its Land Development Code, including for operating another roadside zoo as an unpermitted use. Angel is currently being prosecuted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for failing to report a lemur bite at one of her facilities.
Let’s stop Angel from exploiting more animals! Please contact the Mayor of Fort Lauderdale and ask him to shut down Angel’s latest attempt to exploit capybaras and other animals.