Boston Zoo May Close, Euthanize Hundreds of Animals

Boston Zoo May Close, Euthanize Hundreds of Animals

www.foxnews.com

The Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston landmark for nearly a century, may be forced to close and euthanize up to a fifth of the animals in its care due to devastating budget cuts.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Sad news, people. Sad stuff.

I understand the need to cut budgets, but what about all the LEGISLATORS and other forms of pork? Massachusetts is a tiny little state that supports hundreds of "state senators" and "state representatives" that draw salaries and pensions. And each of the six tiny New England states has the same system. Heck, half the people in Rhode Island are State Senators!

I'd like to see some budget and manpower cuts along those lines before they start closing zoos.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

wow that is incredibly sad news.

And you are absolutely correct... there is so much waste all AROUND, not just in manpower, but everything, that could be so better used on ensuring people are better taken care of.

How much did we waste on the military alone in the past couple years again? Yeah...

Duh, don't euthanize them. Put them into the hundreds of wildlife refuges and preservations specifically for this sort of thing. There are tons located in the USA, especially in places like Texas and Florida. There are also many zoos and even some resarch centers (observation research, not pins and needles) that will take in animals in these situations.

That and the fact that many countries like Spain have recently expanded their zoos and aquariums and would probably help out.

Boo.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


I agree with your post.

If they kill the animals they are mentally disturbed.


I hope economics won't have the last word over much more significant matters such as life...

Pfeffff I am disgusted at the prospect only...

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


The funny part is all the people in this country with exotic animals living in their houses who don't care for them properly... when all these animals may die in a much better home because of a lack of funding.

That's why I like zoos with links to the WWF and other such agencies. They would never ever ever do this.

But it's true that these guys could never be released into the wild again. They would die.


Which leads me to why I dislike zoos in general UNLESS the animals are there because they were abandoned and struggling in the wild, were injured, or for any similar rehabilitation reason.

But then again, I'm weird like that. Most people are perfectly happy seeing animals all caged up just for kicks.

my heart goes out to the animals. Born in captivity, only to die in captivity to save some people money. Kinda like the rest of the masses, huh? Like, whenever a big buisness lays off hundreds of workers. If the big companies want to save money, they should stop spending millions on their office furniture. Or stop being like GM and make crappy cars that have crappy gass millage.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


Tell me about it...

Remember what happened in my thread about the whales and dolphins?

The majority of U.S. people were alright with it...

Sigh...

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


Of course I remember. You know how much I love my Cetaceans.

This isn't the first time I've heard of this.

Actually, many animal shelters are shutting down and euthanizing their animals because they cannot afford to remain open and cannot find homes for the cats and dogs in their care.

While I'm not in favor of this approach it's fair to say that the cost of feeding all those animals is the reason they may be shutting down. A local car dealership had two lions as mascots and the cost for feeding them and medical care was in the neighborhood of 7,000 a week each. Beef isn't cheap and even chicken and pork can get costly at 30-40 lbs a feeding three times a day and that's just two animals. If you folks are going to foot the bill at these preserves for feeding and care then I agree, put them there, but most that I know of a running on a shoestring budget as it is. I understand why we have Zoos but I also know the reasons why we shouldn't! One of the animal shelters here asked PETA for a donation and got laughed at by the folks they talked too. Green Peace didn't want to even discuss it! Shows exactly what kind of operations they run!
Zindo

[edit on 7/12/2009 by ZindoDoone]

This sounds like a scare tactic. Franklin Park Zoo is a member of the AZA and unless those animals have absolutely no conservation or monetary value, they'll find a new home. Still, this is surprising considering the zoo industry as a whole has been doing well in the recession. Considering a family of 4 can get in the door for the same price as a single ticket to Disney, many local zoos have been seeing near record attendance.

[edit on 7/12/2009 by FSBlueApocalypse]

reply to post by silent thunder


man, thats sad...we can give hundreds of billions to a dieing insurance company (nonetheless) but we cant give a few thousand to one of the most important institutions of humanity...


sad, sad, day...

How sad that they may have to close down. But i think they're talking crap about having to put 200 animals to sleep. I'm sure they can find places to take all of their animals, they just need to try harder. There are plenty of zoos in this country, and others, as well as wildlife preserves and ordinary people that run animal sancuaries and will take in animals rather than have them put to sleep.

Maybe they should try asking the public for help, charge a little more for entry, ask the employees to take a minor pay cut, in this economy some people may be willing to take a pay cut rather than lose their job. They can do away with certain exhibits to save money. I don't think they've truely checked out all of their options. They can grow some of the food they need to feed the animals. There are so many ways that they can avoid putting those animals to sleep.

@ zorgon i agree 100%

reply to post by silent thunder

Originally posted by silent thunder
I understand the need to cut budgets, but what about all the LEGISLATORS and other forms of pork? Massachusetts is a tiny little state that supports hundreds of "state senators" and "state representatives" that draw salaries and pensions. And each of the six tiny New England states has the same system. Heck, half the people in Rhode Island are State Senators!

Don't lump New Hampshire in with Massachusetts...

NH state reps haven't had a pay raise in over 120 years:

www.nh.gov...

June 2, 1784
Amended 1792 requiring state to pay wages instead of town.
Amended 1889 setting salary for members at $200 and for officers at $250 with $3 per day for special sessions.
Amended 1960 limiting mileage to 90 legislative days.
Amended 1984 limiting mileage to 45 legislative days in each annual session.

As for euthanization, Mass. officials said if it comes to that, "They'll only euthanize the guilty ones".

reply to post by jsobecky


Good point about New Hampshire...the one New England state with its head screwed on straight (somewhat). I spent three years living in rural NH decades ago, and would return in a heartbeat if I could. Great place.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
Duh, don't euthanize them. Put them into the hundreds of wildlife refuges and preservations specifically for this sort of thing.

they would starvonate.
they're used to getting fed food... not hunting it

-

reply to post by prevenge


These places provide food for the animals in their care. They are not expected to hunt. Have you ever been to one?

The lions are kept far from the zebras, to say the least.

Sorry you misunderstood. I'm talking about places like this:

www.fossilrim.org...
www.tigercreek.org...

That's the first one I found. They protect the animals which cannot fend for themselves. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of similar places in the USA alone.

I volunteer to take all the unpretty, unwanted animals
snakes, spiders, frogs, that sort of thing... I always loved them the most

reply to post by Ridhya


I'll take the bats.