San Francisco Residents
Hi everyone!
If you are a friend of mine and you live in San Francisco, please write to your city supervisor and urge them not to support Chris Daly's Rescue Zoo legislation. If you don't live in SF, just write to Daly and tell him he's an idiot.
Here's why:
The legislation requires the SF Zoo to become a "rescue zoo," and only obtain animals from donations, rescue situation, or law enforcement confiscations. The zoo has many rescue animals, about 15%, and we like rescue animals, but this legislation makes it impossible for us to do the other important work of zoos-- conservation breeding.
As an afterthought, the drafters of the legislation included a list of 8 species for which the zoo could continue participating in AZA Species Survival Plans. Unfortunately, the people who wrote the document have no idea what an SSP is or how it works, and so their list includes species that are not part of SSP programs and leaves out species that are. Chris Daly has never heard of a fishing cat, so we don't get to conserve them. In Defense of Animals doesn't care about animals unless they are fuzzy, so we have to stop trying to save the San Francisco garter snake from extinction (they aren't part of an SSP, but are an important local project).
I absolutely support a rededication of the zoo to animal welfare and an increase in the percentage of our animals that come from rescue. Personally, I would support legislation that 100% of our animals had to be either rescued OR part of a conservation program. I am horrified by the idea of the city board of supervisors determining our conservation priorities instead of the national community of experts that we currently consult.
This law is a disaster in a pretty dress. Help us kill it!
If you are a friend of mine and you live in San Francisco, please write to your city supervisor and urge them not to support Chris Daly's Rescue Zoo legislation. If you don't live in SF, just write to Daly and tell him he's an idiot.
Here's why:
The legislation requires the SF Zoo to become a "rescue zoo," and only obtain animals from donations, rescue situation, or law enforcement confiscations. The zoo has many rescue animals, about 15%, and we like rescue animals, but this legislation makes it impossible for us to do the other important work of zoos-- conservation breeding.
As an afterthought, the drafters of the legislation included a list of 8 species for which the zoo could continue participating in AZA Species Survival Plans. Unfortunately, the people who wrote the document have no idea what an SSP is or how it works, and so their list includes species that are not part of SSP programs and leaves out species that are. Chris Daly has never heard of a fishing cat, so we don't get to conserve them. In Defense of Animals doesn't care about animals unless they are fuzzy, so we have to stop trying to save the San Francisco garter snake from extinction (they aren't part of an SSP, but are an important local project).
I absolutely support a rededication of the zoo to animal welfare and an increase in the percentage of our animals that come from rescue. Personally, I would support legislation that 100% of our animals had to be either rescued OR part of a conservation program. I am horrified by the idea of the city board of supervisors determining our conservation priorities instead of the national community of experts that we currently consult.
This law is a disaster in a pretty dress. Help us kill it!