Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs Tomah, Wis., have been caught playing a life-sized, human version of “Hungry Hungry Hippos” at a Halloween carnival that lasted most of the day last week.
The VA’s “Hungry Hungry Hippos” game involved putting employees on small, wheeled platforms, as others push them into a circle where they tried to collect as many balls as possible, in imitation of the old board game.
The video was leaked to DisabledVeterans.org, a group run by veteran Benjamin Krause, who was able to verify the identity of some VA workers.
The VA’s Tomah office was recently involved in a scandal involving the illegal distribution of drugs to veterans, which prompted many to call the Tomah office “Candy Land.”
The Tomah VA office was also known for retaliation against VA employees who tried to fix things, a practice that has become common throughout many other VA offices. Many whistleblowers have also gotten in trouble at the VA for talking about the department’s other major scandal: the lengthy delays veterans face getting healthcare.
But that didn’t stop Tomah VA workers from enjoying themselves from playing “carnival games” and holding a “costume judging contest” in the afternoon of Oct. 30, just a day before Halloween.
