SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A group has come forward in hopes of keeping the Brockhouse taxidermy collection once housed in the Delbridge Museum in Sioux Falls.

Since the 1980s, the Delbridge Museum has helped families create memories.

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“All my kids growing up, they love coming here. And the museum itself. You know, when I go through it, I remember seeing all the little kids and giggling and laughing and pointing that stuff,” Jason Haack said.

But kids haven’t been able to see the animals since 2023, when city leaders closed the museum, saying arsenic had been found in the mounts.

The Sioux Falls City Council recently voted to gift the Brockhouse collection to three out-of-state nonprofits. But not everyone supports that decision.

“We’re trying to get signatures to get this on the ballot for people, for people in Sioux Falls to vote on it. We feel that what the city fathers did is not right,” Glenn Charles Philips said.

“I’ve gone door to door getting signatures. And everybody is for keeping them in Sioux Falls. They can’t understand what our city fathers were doing,” Philips said.

While the city council received the Delbridge family’s support in the decision to donate the mounts, those behind the petition drive still believe the collection should remain in Sioux Falls.

“There’s not a mount like this throughout the whole United States. Nobody has a complete one like this. That’s why I can’t understand why the mayor and the city council wants to get rid of them,” Philips said.

“They’re good for education. They’re good for the kids. You’re good for the future. And they don’t understand how they can actually build something and actually make it a very lucrative endeavor,” Haack said.

The group has until March 6 to collect 7,552 signatures.

Click here for more information on the Save the Delbridge/Brockhouse Animals.