HOW YOU CAN HELP ANIMALS!
DO NOT SANCTION THE EXISTENCE OF ZOOS (PART
II)
In International Society for Animal Rights' January 15, 2014 How You Can Help Animals blog -- entitled "Do Not Sanction The Existence
Of Zoos" -- we made the case that "zoos are an
abomination, and should not be supported by individuals, taxpayers,
organizations or anyone else."
Among our stated
reasons was that "zoos are an immoral enterprise because they exploit and abuse
living creatures for the entertainment of the crowd."
Even ISAR didn't contemplate the "bread and circuses" savagery that just occurred at the Copenhagen zoo. The closing lines in our blog of January 15, 2014 were these: "It is in the name of moral principle that zoos should be abolished, for the benefit of the captive 'living trophies'. If one wants to help animals, this way is among the easiest: Boycott zoos, and tell everyone you know to do the same. And tell them why."
To which we now
add: And tell them about the Copenhagen zoo, whose name will now forever live in
infamy.
Why "savagery"?
Why "bread and circuses"?
Here's what the
renowned Born Free Foundation has had to say:
Born Free
Statement on Copenhagen Zoo
9
February 2014
In the wake of the unnecessary and
much-publicised euthanasia of a healthy 18 month-old giraffe named Marius, the
Born Free Foundation is calling for an immediate change in European Association
of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) policies regarding euthanasia of animals in zoos.
Born Free believes that euthanasia should only be employed to prevent suffering
of an individual animal and all other options have been exhausted.
Will Travers OBE,
President of the Born Free Foundation [upon whose life the movie Born Free
was based] said: "Born Free, and the majority of the right-thinking world,
is appalled at the killing of Marius the giraffe. The slaughter of healthy
animals by zoos must stop."
The unnecessary slaughter of Marius
by a captive bolt gun at Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark, has sent shockwaves across the
world, and exposed the grim reality of zoos, says the Born Free Foundation. The
Zoo apparently took the decision to kill Marius after determining that he was
closely related to the other giraffes in European zoos and therefore of no value
to their breeding programme. The killing of Marius occurred at the same time
that Longleat Safari Park in Warminster, UK had decided to kill six of their
lions - one on welfare grounds as a result of injuries from a fight in their
enclosure; and five others due to suspected neurological problems from
inbreeding.
Travers added:
"Zoos claim that their breeding programmes are contributing to conservation - I
say: show me the evidence. If keeping and breeding threatened species are
priority for zoos, why then do they keep mostly common species?" Research by the
Born Free Foundation has shown that the majority of species kept in zoos are not
threatened with extinction in the wild.
Virginia McKenna
OBE, Founder of the Born Free Foundation [and lead actress in the movie Born
Free] said: "I am appalled by the decision to kill this poor, healthy young
giraffe. This is an outrage that highlights the urgent need to look more closely
at all zoos and the welfare of animals forced to survive in zoo enclosures. Now
is the time for people throughout Europe to demand that no more captive wild
animals suffer the same tragic fate."
The Born Free Foundation is calling
for an immediate review and amendment to EAZA euthanasia policies, to ensure
healthy animals who can be relocated are not killed, and for increased
transparency in zoos across Europe, with accurate recording and publication of
the numbers of healthy animals that are destroyed in each licensed zoo in the
region.
Furthermore, Born
Free is calling for a meeting with the Government Minister responsible for zoos,
at which they intend to ask him to implement an urgent review of breeding and
euthanasia practices in zoos in the UK.
Actually, the savage act done at
the Copenhagen zoo is even worse than Will Travers' has said. There have been
reports that Marius was euthanized outdoors in full view of a public, including children,
apparently eager to watch. Zoo officials performed the autopsy in public, and
then fed Marius' remains to some of the zoo's carnivores. For additional
details see "The death of Marius the
giraffe," "Zoo Kills 'Unwanted' Giraffe
Marius, Feeds Carcass to Lions."
What was
Marius' crime?
The answer
suggests an obscene irony.
"His genes are
already well represented at the zoo," said a spokesperson for the Copenhagen
zoo.
In other words,
Marius was a giraffe untermensch (according to Wikipedia, "German for under
man, sub-man, sub-human . . . ." Marius the giraffe was a
sub-animal . . . unwanted . . . surplus. He was slaughtered because his genes
were useless to the humans who imprisoned him.
This from
Danish zookeepers whose country long ago courageously refused to allow
human genes to determine who lived and who
died.
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