72 Search Results for "guatemala"
- most relevant
- most recent
- highest rated
- most viewed
- top favorites
- most comments
-
Cancun Tigers and Lions Cancun Tigers and Lions
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Cancun Tigers and Lions. Send a letter at CatLaws.com today to stop such horrible abuse of big cats.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 233
-
Cancun Tigers and Lions Cancun Tigers and Lions
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Cancun Tigers and Lions. Send a letter at CatLaws.com today to stop such horrible abuse of big cats.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 211
- Not yet rated
-
Cancun Tigers and Lions Cancun Tigers and Lions
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Cancun Tigers and Lions. Send a letter at CatLaws.com today to stop such horrible abuse of big cats.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 153
- Not yet rated
-
Cancun Tigers and Lions Cancun Tigers and Lions
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Cancun Tigers and Lions. Send a letter at CatLaws.com today to stop such horrible abuse of big cats.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 122
- Not yet rated
-
Cancun Tigers and Lions Cancun Tigers and Lions
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Cancun Tigers and Lions. Send a letter at CatLaws.com today to stop such horrible abuse of big cats.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 112
- Not yet rated
-
International Tiger Coalition International Tiger Coalition
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
The International Tiger Coalition battles tiger farming and tiger abuse.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 82
-
Lion VS Tiger Lion VS Tiger
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Tiger VS Lion
- 1 year ago
- Views: 55
-
Circus Beats Lions and Tigers Circus Beats Lions and Tigers
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Anyone who has ever had a cat can see that these lions and tigers are performing out of fear. Ears back, eyes squinted and head shying away from the whip and trainer are obvious signs that they have been whipped and beaten in the face since they were cubs.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 247
- Not yet rated
-
‘Positive reinforcement’ doesn ‘Positive reinforcement’ doesn’t come from whips
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Wild-animal circuses do not and cannot provide humane conditions for animals. Circuses say they have every incentive to treat animals well.
By: Christine Coughlin, Duluth News Tribune
This week, the wild-animal circus makes its annual appearance in Duluth. Along with the glitter and laughs is the growing controversy over the practice of using wild animals for entertainment. Animal circuses are often met with protesters, letters to the editor and requests for a humane alternative.
So what's the fuss?
Wild-animal circuses do not and cannot provide humane conditions for animals. Circuses say they have every incentive to treat animals well. In reality, every incentive exists to make animals perform. By whatever means necessary, the circus must ensure wild animals will execute their stunts.
In circus programs and on Web sites, the industry reassures the public it uses positive reinforcement on the animals. Yet, during shows, audiences watch as big-cat trainers crack whips while cats do tricks. Elephants are accompanied by men with bullhooks, sticks with sharp metal hooks on one end. No matter how they're marketed, whips and hooks are not positive reinforcement. They serve as continual reminders to the animals of what could happen if they don't comply.
And that's just what can be seen at circuses. What about training sessions held behind closed doors or out of our sight?
Much of what's known about training and discipline in circuses has been brought to light by former circus employees and undercover investigators. Through eyewitness testimony and videotapes, the public has learned of horrific abuses behind the scenes. Several weeks ago, closing arguments were heard in a Washington, D.C., federal district court trial, in which it was alleged Ringling Bros. abused its endangered Asian elephants with bullhooks and prolonged chaining, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. In that case, videotapes were shown, and five former employees testified against Ringling. A decision in the case is expected this spring.
Prolonged chaining and unnatural confinement of circus animals may be more debilitating over the long term than abusive training and discipline. Wild animals in circuses routinely spend up to 20 hours a day on short chains or in small cages. Osteomyelitis, a painful and life-threatening disease affecting the feet and legs of elephants, is correlated with prolonged standing on concrete and is found only in captive elephants. Stereotypic behaviors — like repetitive rocking, bobbing and pacing — are in response to confinement, are indicative of physiological stresses, and are commonly seen in circus animals and not in animals in the wild.
Animal circuses do not teach children about the normal behaviors of healthy animals. They do not teach about the conservation challenges faced by those working to protect the animals in their native environments. What animal circuses teach is that it's acceptable to separate individual animals from their families, to train them with harsh tools, and to hold them in intensive confinement, denying them every instinct to move and roam freely, as nature intended.
Many parents are choosing to take their children to circuses without animals. Animal-free circuses are on a growing list of entertainment options, and are increasing in popularity.
Let's take the best of what the circus has to offer — acrobats, stunts, clowns, music — and leave the wild animals where they belong, in the wild. Animal circuses offer moments of entertainment in exchange for lifetimes of misery. They are not worth it.
CHRISTINE COUGHLIN of Minneapolis is a member of Circus Reform Yes, a Minnesota nonprofit that advocates for animal-free circuses.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/118676/ - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 261
-
Vanishing Species Vanishing Species
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Vanishing Species
- 1 year ago
- Views: 93
- Not yet rated
-
Exotic Pet Amnesty Days Exotic Pet Amnesty Days
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
The Florida Wildlife Commission makes it easy for people to dump their unwanted exotic animals when they aren't fun any more.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 64
- Not yet rated
-
Nit Wit Swims with Lion Nit Wit Swims with Lion
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Nit Wit Swims with Lion
- 1 year ago
- Views: 134
- Not yet rated
-
Bear Creek Feline Center Bear Creek Feline Center
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Bear Creek Feline Center
- 1 year ago
- Views: 194
- Not yet rated
-
Genesis Wildlife Center Genesis Wildlife Center
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Genesis Wildlife Center
- 1 year ago
- Views: 123
- Not yet rated
-
Nay Aug wildlife housing has l Nay Aug wildlife housing has long, troubled past
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Nay Aug wildlife housing has long, troubled past
Princess Penny, a 21-month-old elephant, unties the shoe of a visitor. Times-Tribune archive - Sept. 1, 1966 Share This Story: 
document.write('<sc'+'ript src=\'http://d.yimg.com/ds/badge.js\' badgetype=\'text\' showbranding=\'1\'>the_timestrib696:'+document.location.href+'</sc'+'ript>')
the_timestrib696:http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/04/07/news/sc_times_trib.20090407.a.pg1.tt07genesis_s1.2427731_top2.txt
Yahoo! BuzzBY LAURA LEGERE
STAFF WRITERThird of three parts
The Nay Aug Zoo was a center of civic pride for decades after it opened in 1920. In 1924 and 1935, new elephants were purchased using money raised by schoolchildren, a penny at a time. In 1955, about 500 people visited each day. Footage compiled by Hank Robinson into a film about the history of the zoo shows the park crowded with visitors during a summer day in the 1960s. Copies of his film are available at all Lackawanna County public libraries.
When Genesis Wildlife Center was officially opened in November 2003 in one of the former zoo’s buildings, Mayor Chris Doherty called up that past.
“Even I remember coming here as a kid,” he said at the center’s unveiling. “The zoo was a big part of the city’s identity. The thing I didn’t anticipate with this project was how much of an emotional hold it had on people.”Critics of the wildlife center say the “emotional hold” of the park’s past — and a selective memory about the zoo’s history of mistakes — helps explain how the city has been able to persist in keeping exotic animals in an aging structure there.
“The mayor has very good company in our collective nostalgia for Nay Aug the way it was,” Eunice Alexander, a former Scranton resident, said. “I think it colored our thinking as a people. It just seems like we’ve allowed ourselves to think that we could have this.”
Ms. Alexander pointed out a “long history of keeping animals in too-small areas” at the park during a period when “we didn’t know any better.”
“But now, we know better,” she said.
A familiar debate
The debate over the future of the Genesis Wildlife Center is strikingly similar to the debate over Nay Aug Zoo that raged a quarter century ago, and another debate that flared two decades before that.
In 1983, the Humane Society of the United States named the zoo to a list of the nation’s 10 most substandard zoos. Sue Pressman, director of captive wildlife protection for the Humane Society, noted “the exhibits at the Scranton Zoo are so outdated and sterile that there can be no understanding of the animals’ natural behaviors.” She called even the newest exhibits “archaic” by the standards of modern zoology.
The chairman of the local Zoological Society at the time defended the zoo by pointing out it was licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and it was visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year.
“I think the city is getting more than its money’s worth,” said the chairman, W. Boyd Hughes.
Two decades earlier, in 1963, the Humane Society of Lackawanna County criticized the Zoological Society for its approach to renovating the zoo’s heating system, leaky roof and a drafty lion and tiger cage.
It had been a particularly dramatic year at the zoo: a bull elk gored to death a 10-week-old baby elk; a monkey bit the fingers of a zoo attendant who tried to capture it after it escaped; four monkeys and possibly a burro died from exposure to winter weather because the building was insufficiently heated; and a female lion killed two cubs after a faulty door allowed her to get into their cage.
“Zoos start in a spate of excitement and money, and gradually, both diminish,” Hilda Ziegler, the Humane Society’s secretary, said in her criticism of the renovations at the time. “The needs of the animals do not diminish when the money does. It is necessary to look ahead not only to next year but to the next 20 years.”
Tragic history
Before it closed in 1989 because of financial struggles, Nay Aug Zoo’s history was filled with stories of animal escapes, abuse by visitors and occasional tragedies.
In April 1964, two adult bears mauled to death a 2-year-old cub that had gotten into their cage. According to Scranton Times accounts at the time, three boys witnessed “the maelstrom of tangling fur, claws and teeth” as the young bear was killed.
Later that year, a 75-year-old zoo attendant was fatally gored by a bull elk that charged him while he was trying to protect employees fixing a water line. He died after suffering a crushed chest, collapsed lung and severe punctures of the abdomen.
In 1966, a capuchin monkey, described by zookeeper George Lowry as “on the ferocious side,” was shot and killed after it escaped from the zoo. That same year, a baboon was found dead in its cage with a fractured skull, evidently from being hit in the head with a metal bar.
In 1967, a 4-year-old alligator escaped for two days into Roaring Brook, where Mr. Lowry shot it twice in the head with a rifle, mortally wounding it. Less than a week later, someone entered the zoo and let a mountain lion out of its cage. The lion was tranquilized nearby, but during the excitement, an employee left open the cage holding a pony and two llamas, all of which briefly escaped.
The same month, Princess Penny, an elephant, choked on a stuffed toy that had been thrown into her paddock, and a zoo attendant had to retrieve the toy from her throat.
In 1970, a group of boys released two 350-pound Himalayan black bears from their dens. The bears were shot by police as they began wandering in the park near Lake Lincoln. A year earlier, a white fallow deer was found dead in the children’s zoo, near about 20 stones and a bloody 3-foot tree limb that had evidently been used to kill it.
‘Not a good zoo’
By the end of 1989, the joint city-and-county-run zoo was in debt and struggling to finance a plan to turn the zoo into a facility that better conformed to the natural environment of the hilly park or one that featured only animals native to North America. After a concerted effort to place the remaining animals in other zoos, the number of animals had dwindled from about 200 in the 1960s to three: two bears and an elephant.
By the time the last animal, Toni the elephant, was moved to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., it was acknowledged it had been unsuitable for the elephant to be kept without peers. It was also noted that a stiffening of the lower joint in her left front leg might have been exacerbated by standing on the concrete of her pen all day.
That year, for the second time in five years, the zoo was listed among the nation’s 10 worst zoos in an article published by Parade magazine. Although many defended the animals’ treatment at the zoo, Eleanor Ginader, a board member of the local Zoological Society said, “Truly, it is not a good zoo. We’d be the first to admit it.”
Three years earlier, in 1986, she had explained the problem with the zoo and a hope for its future.
“I’m sure that the Nay Aug Zoo in the 1930s was one of the finest examples of zoos at that time, but it is still a 1930 zoo,” she said. “It has not been updated; it has not kept pace with the times; it’s not had the money; it’s been one financial crisis after another, and so we have to change.”
She added, “We either have to have something that’s one of the best, even though it’s small, or we don’t have anything at all.”
Read more from the Concrete Jungle series
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 682
- Not yet rated
-
Scranton’s commitment to wildl Scranton’s commitment to wildlife center faulted
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Scranton’s commitment to wildlife center faulted
BY LAURA LEGERE
STAFF WRITER
Published: Monday, April 06, 2009
Updated: Monday, April 6, 2009 3:51 PM EDT
Second of three parts
Genesis Wildlife Center moved to Nay Aug Park seven years ago in what seemed to be a perfect marriage of circumstances: the city of Scranton had a long-vacant zoo building, and Margaret Miller, the center’s director, had wild animals.
At the time, city officials hailed the return of exotic animals to the park a decade after the Nay Aug Zoo had been shuttered. The city agreed to pay the utility bills and let Ms. Miller use the building for free. There was no written contract, no rent, nothing to prevent Genesis from pulling out or the city asking the center to leave, said Mayor Chris Doherty, who helped instigate the move.
“Seven years ago, there was literally nothing else in the park,” he said. “So we fixed up the building and we had the wildlife center come down.”
But people who voice concerns about the health and safety of the center’s animals, staff and visitors say the current arrangement between the city and Genesis is less a convenient match than a recipe for substandard animal care.
With the partnership, the city gets to offer citizens and visitors an attraction that approximates a zoo, without shouldering the funding or responsibility required for a real zoo, they say.
Ms. Miller considers her center a “sanctuary,” a place where “throwaway” abused, abandoned and confiscated exotic wildlife can have a “home filled with love and caring.”
But between 2005 and 2007, inspectors with the U.S. Department of Agriculture found 17 examples of how the center was out of compliance with minimum standards of animal care defined in the Animal Welfare Act, including regulations pertaining to animal diet, veterinary care and public safety.
Beatrice Heveran, a new area resident who has served on the board of Zoo New England, has been an outspoken critic of the center since she first visited it.
“What the mayor’s got, he’s pointing to as an attraction,” she said. “It is a cesspool. It is an infested public disaster. The citizens can get very hurt there.”
Lisa Wathne, a captive exotic animals specialist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said many cities provide funding to local zoos that are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which sets a rigorous standard of care that is much higher than basic USDA requirements.
But “for a city to be providing funding to what is really a roadside zoo or one person’s personal little project is pretty unusual,” she said. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Ms. Miller defends her care of the animals, pointing to the vitamin-enriched meat she feeds her big cats and the fresh fruits and vegetables the primates eat every day. But she admits the partnership did not work out as she had hoped.
“I was excited about it,” she said last week as she leaned against a glass wall in the center that separates visitors from cages of monkeys, lemurs and a lynx. “I thought, I have these great animals, they have a building, why not let people enjoy it? That’s what I thought. And it didn’t turn out that way.”
Ms. Miller said the city promised her a new building for the animals, help with fundraising and an operating budget. The city increased the center’s annual funding from $20,000 to $50,000 in 2005, and the allocation remains her only source of steady funding.
While the city Parks Department is responsible for maintaining many aspects of the facility, Ms. Miller said she has to “fight for every little thing I get,” including the recent installation of a fence to partition two young tigers from a cougar that has no claws or fangs.
In 2005, the city began to investigate the possibility of building a full-scale zoo in Nay Aug Park and used a $175,000 Commonwealth Financing Authority grant for a feasibility study. But, according to the mayor, such a zoo would cost $10 million to build and $500,000 a year to operate.
“That’s just too expensive for us,” he said. “I don’t think a city of our size could handle something like that. It would be too big of a responsibility.”
Currently, the city has no plans to expand Genesis Wildlife Center or dedicate more funding to its operation. The mayor also said he does not immediately plan to cut the center’s funding, but he added that “somewhere along the line we’re going to have to be tightening our belts, so we’re going to have to make decisions at that time.”
When asked about Genesis’ noncompliance issues, Mr. Doherty said the city is “aware of everything. We study this all the time.” He also said cited problems have been fixed.
“I know there’s a tremendous amount of love there given to the animals,” he said and added that representatives from national zoos who have visited the center agree that “there’s a lot of love and care.”
“It’s a wildlife center, it’s not a zoo,” he said. “They just try to take care of animals.”
Read more from the Concrete Jungle series
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com
http://thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/04/06/news/sc_times_trib.20090406.a.pg1.tt06genesis_s1.2421473_top2.txt - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 401
- Not yet rated
-
Genesis Wildlife Center: A dec Genesis Wildlife Center: A decent life for wildlife?
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
CONCRETE JUNGLE: Inside the Genesis Wildlife Center
Published: Sunday, April 05, 2009
Updated: Sunday, April 5, 2009 11:30 AM EDT
A series of reports by The Times-Tribune about the conditions and operations of the Genesis Wildlife Center in Scranton's Nay Aug Park.Genesis Wildlife Center: A decent life for wildlife?
BY LAURA LEGERE
STAFF WRITERPublished: Sunday, April 05, 2009
Updated: Sunday, April 5, 2009 11:15 AM EDTFirst of three parts
Margaret Miller, the 64-year-old director of the Genesis Wildlife Center, escorted a visitor into a side room full of caged birds that nattered and squawked when she entered.
She stood in the narrow middle of the room partitioned by parallel 2-by-4s suspended thigh-high, each board labeled in handwritten pen "Do Not Cross." As an additional precaution, Ms. Miller likes to have a volunteer sit in the room to prevent people leaning over the wobbly boards and sticking their fingers into the birds' cages. The birds are apt to bite, she said.
"Isn't that right?" she asked the birds. The birds bobbed their heads.
Genesis Wildlife Center aims to be a sanctuary for animals that once were unwanted or abused. But a lack of adequate funding, modern facilities or a long-term plan means chronic problems often are overlooked or patched with makeshift solutions.
Since 2003, when the menagerie was moved to the city-owned building that once was part of the Nay Aug Zoo, the center has struggled to make a home fit for the animals, revealing limitations in both the facility and the way the center is run.
Care fails inspections
The center strains to meet even the minimum standards of animal care set by the federal government under the Animal Welfare Act.
Inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture between June 2005 and September 2007, obtained by The Sunday Times in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, describe an array of infractions.
- Read the Inspections (.pdf)
In June 2007, four "grossly overweight" primates were given a "morning snack" of waffles coated with marshmallow topping. They had become "very sedentary" in their cages after apparently gaining back the weight lost on a previous diet.
In November 2005, a member of the public accompanied an employee and volunteer inside the tiger and cougar enclosure, where she was allowed to pet the tiger. Neither animal was restrained or under a handler's control.
In June 2005, most of the medications stored in the office were noted to be expired, including an antibiotic that had been expired for a year but was being administered to a coatimundi, a long-tailed mammal in the raccoon family. The outdated medicines were still on site during an inspection two months later, when staff members threw them out.
None of the animals was examined by a veterinarian during the six months between October 2005 and April 2006, despite the center's program calling for the animals to receive monthly checkups.
Throughout the 27 months of inspections there were numerous examples of noncompliance concerning the building, including dangerous or frayed wire in the animals' metal enclosures, an exposed heater, peeling paint and wallpaper, and gaps and weeds around the perimeter fences that posed a risk to animal or human safety.
In the nine inspections during the period when records were released, Genesis was found to have 17 examples of noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act. During two of the nine inspections, the center was found to be violation-free. A Freedom of Information Act request for records of USDA inspections performed in 2008 and 2009 is still pending.
'Is it going to kill them?'
Ms. Miller, who owns the animals, said she generally receives clean inspections. When she is cited, the violations most often have to do with maintenance of the city-owned building, "things that I have no control over," she said, like the aging structure, the weeds around it, and the occasional mice that get inside.
"I think I'm doing a terrific job, and most people do. If I was doing something wrong, they would close me," she said. "And if (the animals) get a waffle every once in a while, is it going to kill them? No. No, it won't."
She explained that the citation for having a visitor inside the tiger and cougar cage was a misunderstanding: The woman was the mother of the center's lynx caretaker at the time and she was trained to work with big cats, though she was not wearing any identification when the inspector saw her.
"I don't take people in with the cats because the cats would kill you," Ms. Miller said.
Not all of Genesis' inspectors have recorded violations. The state Game Commission, which regulates the center as a wildlife menagerie, has never issued a citation "for any deficiencies or blatant violations" in seven years of at least twice-annual inspections, said Mark Rutkowski, a conservation officer for the region.
A June 2008 inspection report — the only one released in response to a Right-to-Know records request — indicated the center passed all 22 categories on which it was evaluated, including providing bedding, clean water and adequately sized pens for the animals.
- Read the Inspection Report (.pdf)
Mr. Rutkowski said visitors' complaints to the Game Commission about the center often are about what he calls "aesthetics."
"When people go there, they go there looking for these well-groomed animals you might see at the Bronx Zoo or Philadelphia Zoo, and that's just not what the center is," he said.
But the center's most vocal critics say their concerns go beyond aesthetics: they fear it is unsafe for both people and animals and sends the wrong message to the public.
"The way they display those animals, the huge message you get from that place is these wild animals make good pets," said Mary Sweeney, a former Scranton resident. "A big part of the attitude is, 'Aren't they cute.'"
Eunice Alexander, who grew up in the Hill Section next to the Nay Aug Zoo, said there is little educational value in displaying animals in small cages with concrete floors.
"You can't really do education divorced from any kind of habitat context," she said. "You're showing them that animal seems to be OK in nothing."
Backlash over breeder
The most sustained roar of public criticism leveled at Genesis Wildlife Center began a year ago and was caused by two tiger cubs then big enough to emit only fledgling mews.
Ms. Miller acquired the cubs two months after her beloved Siberian tiger, Reba, died. Many visitors were happy for the chance to see baby animals, but others questioned whether a small, aging facility that admittedly struggled to afford to stay open was an appropriate place to bring 11-week-old tigers.
Captive wildlife and animal sanctuary experts now say the transfer of the cubs had far graver implications.
Ms. Miller obtained the tigers from G.W. Exotic Animal Park, which formerly billed itself as a sanctuary but now considers itself a "conservancy and educational zoo" in Wynnewood, Okla. Sanctuary representatives say G.W. Exotic is notorious for inhumane treatment of its animals.
In 2006, the USDA fined the park $25,000, suspended its license for two weeks and put it on an 18-month probation for violating at least 14 regulations of the Animal Welfare Act.
The park is particularly infamous among animal sanctuary experts for breeding exotic animals indiscriminately to entice visitors who want to play with new cubs. For sanctuary accrediting agencies, such as the American Sanctuary Association and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, breeding breaks the cardinal rule of true sanctuaries because it adds to the population of unwanted captive species.
Lisa Wathne, a captive exotic animal specialist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said acquiring cubs from the park makes Genesis complicit in G.W. Exotic's behavior.
"Genesis is essentially enabling them to continue breeding these animals," she said.
Vernon Weir, director of the American Sanctuary Association, said Ms. Miller's move is particularly problematic because of a surplus of adult tigers in the country.
"There probably wasn't a single day in the last 10 years when someone didn't call me about an adult tiger that didn't have a place to go," he said. "For them to get tigers from this breeder down in Oklahoma is ridiculous."
Ms. Miller said she had "nothing to do with" G.W. Exotic's practices as a breeder or its past USDA violations. She explained that she found a listing for the cubs in the Animal Finder's Guide, a publication for those who raise captive wildlife. She was asked to make a donation to the park to reserve the cubs, and never got the money back.
She said she does not breed animals at her center — the male tiger and monkeys are neutered, she said, and the male lemurs were "fixed" after several reproduced. She also countered the claims that she is complicit in G.W. Exotic's breeding.
"Do you think he's going to stop? He's not going to," she said of G.W. Exotic. "I wanted two baby tigers that I wanted to save out of there. Does it mean I approve? No."
Now she says she is "truly sorry" she brought the tigers to Genesis, in part because of the public criticism and in part because of the cost. The tigers each eat about 20 pounds of meat each day and a pallet of meat costs about $3,600.
Asked why she acquired the cats, knowing the high cost of feeding them, she said she had leftover meat when Reba died and other cats to feed.
"I had children coming and asking about Reba and not understanding death or where she was or why she went. And some of the cards from the children, that probably influenced me," she said. "But if I could have flashed forward and seen everything, I probably would not have taken them."
Higher standards
Around the country and the world, zoo, aquarium and sanctuary accrediting agencies have worked to set a true standard for humane, viable animal care and distinguish what they call "pseudo-sanctuaries" from real ones.
Accredited sanctuaries are marked by their exceptional care, their avoidance of any trade in animals, and their dedication to creating havens for animals that have been exploited. Once a sanctuary is accredited, it often is easier for it to receive funding and other grants.
Sanctuary accreditation exists because simply complying with the Animal Welfare Act "is so inadequate in terms of what these animals need," said Kim Haddad, a board member of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the manager of the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition.
"Our standards are much, much higher" than USDA regulations, she said. "They take into account the natural history of the animal, the animal's life experience."
According to Mr. Weir, the director of the American Sanctuary Association, accredited sanctuaries should have steady finances, strong nonprofit boards, plenty of room for animals to roam and enrichment activities to stimulate them. They also should have a robust education program that focuses on why exotic animals should not be pets.
Both organizations also indicated their willingness to work with sanctuaries to help them meet such standards, if the sanctuaries disavow breeding and trade.
"The whole idea behind it, it's not to shut every place down that's not perfect," Dr. Haddad said. "It's to say, 'Here's how you do it right.'"
Genesis Wildlife Center is not accredited as either a sanctuary or a zoo, although Ms. Miller said she would like to work toward it. She had papers in her office about accreditation through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, but had not heard of the American Sanctuary Association or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
She is in the process of cutting back at the center, working to place some of her tropical birds at an Ohio sanctuary.
"I'm thinking about not doing this (anymore)," she said.
She has been flustered by a stream of public criticism and believes she is being personally attacked, even as she draws consolation from students, volunteers and supporters she works with daily.
She said she wants everything for her center that critics want: a space that serves the needs of her animals and benefits the community.
"I would like it to be a place that, when people visit, they walk away saying, 'Wow, did you see that amazing little wildlife center at Nay Aug Park?' Not, 'The building's falling down. They're not adequately staffed. They don't have funding.'
"Why would you want people to walk away thinking something like that?"
Read more from the Concrete Jungle series
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.comClose 'zoo' at Nay Aug
Published: Monday, March 09, 2009
Updated: Monday, March 9, 2009 4:13 AM EDTBack when Scranton's government operated a zoo at Nay Aug Park, the obsolete, wholly inadequate facility became a major embarrassment and a metaphor for the blighted park and the city itself.
The Doherty administration has strived mightily to restore the park, making it once again a source of pride. Yet it allows a reincarnation of the decrepit zoo to drag down the effort.
Although the Genesis Wildlife Center is not technically a zoo, it serves that purpose in terms of its role in the park. And, although it is not operated by the city, the center operates in much the way the city operated the former zoo — hand to mouth, month to month.
The center has a dedicated director and volunteers, and it might well do some good work. But it is far removed from the modern zoos that grace the parks of progressive American cities — the sort of parks to which the Doherty administration otherwise aspires.
Mr. Doherty saw the center as a means to establish a zoo-like presence at the park without binding the city government to a project that it could not afford. The question that the mayor and City Council should consider, going forward, is whether the center enhances the park. The answer, unfortunately, is that it does not.
If Mr. Doherty and council think a zoo is fundamental to the ongoing renaissance and long-term stability of the park, they should methodically go about establishing one. That would involve substantial planning, expert opinions, and a step-by-step implementation plan, including long-term sustainable funding.
The most likely objective conclusion, unfortunately, is that Scranton simply cannot afford to operate a zoo according to modern standards for humane treatment of animals and for amenities required by human visitors. That is why the city does not have its own zoo now.
If the government studies the matter and reaches that conclusion, it should help the wildlife center with a relocation, and use the old zoo grounds to enhance the park in a different way.Nay Aug tiger cub fights infection
Published: Sunday, January 25, 2009
Updated: Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:11 AM ESTIn the six months since Nay Aug Park welcomed two new tiger cubs, both big cats have grown up quickly, but the male continues to be plagued by health problems.
Ivan, a Siberian tiger now 7 months old and 130 pounds, has not been able to fully fight off ringworm he arrived with from Oklahoma. Margaret Miller, director of the Genesis Wildlife Center, said the fungus keeps reoccurring, and Ivan is under regular veterinary care. Otherwise, he is a healthy growing tiger, but Ms. Miller is worried his immune system could be compromised.
"With him tiring easily, that scares me," she said.
The other tiger, an Indochinese named Alea, has a clean bill of health, and she and Ivan are inseparable. Both often share a pen now with the cougars at Genesis.Tiger cubs debut at Nay Aug with video
A male tiger cub at the Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday, July 25, 2008. Linda Morgan/Staff Photograph BY JEREMY G. BURTON
STAFF WRITERPublished: Saturday, July 26, 2008
Updated: Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:00 AM EDTIf the newest stars at the Genesis Wildlife Center were feeling any effects of a cross-country trek, they didn't seem to show it.
But two bottles of formula and some ground beef are apparently enough to conk a couple of tigers right out.
The Genesis sanctuary on Friday introduced two new tiger cubs, two months after the death in May of 15-year-old Siberian tiger Reba, a park favorite.
The Indochinese tigers, a male and a female, arrived Thursday night from G.W. Exotic Animal Park, a conservancy and educational zoo in Wynnewood, Okla.
"Long drive there, long drive back, but it was well worth it," volunteer Robin Perri said.
With the acquisition of two new cubs, some have criticized the aging, outdated facilities as inadequate for such animals. Throughout the afternoon, though, visitors crowded in front of the enclosure for a glimpse at the cubs. Little kids grinned, and adults marveled.
"Oh my goodness gracious, isn't he cute?"
"Wave to him!"
Staffers said the cubs were doing well and enjoying the attention.
Linda Layland, of South Scranton, said her 6-year-old granddaughter, Stephanie, bawled over the death of Reba.
On Friday, Ms. Layland carried her 18-month-old grandson, Jeremy, who doesn't make a habit of sitting still for long but spent a half-hour watching the two cubs feed and play.
"The kids need something like this," she said.
For now, the 11- and 12-week-old tigers will be housed in an enclosure next to the 3,700-square-foot cougar pen, and they will rotate time outside until a partition can be built between the big cats. Eventually, they will all share the single space, possibly also with the wildlife center's Siberian lynx.
Mayor Chris Doherty is expected to announce a contest to name the two cubs.
Many residents' concerns stem from the rocky history of the former Nay Aug Zoo. Twice in five years in the 1980s, Parade magazine named it among the worst zoos nationwide. The facilities date from 1938, with renovations in the 1970s, 1990s and in 2003, when the Genesis sanctuary moved there. In 1981, two Humane Society officials called the zoo "archaic" and recommended it be closed, which it was in 1991.
Genesis is not by definition a zoo, and its volunteers feel like they are catching flak for a burden that isn't theirs.
"All the things the public wants, I want, too. But it's not my building," Genesis director Margaret Miller said.
Ms. Miller said the new cubs don't represent a change in mission or direction. As a rescue, it's rare for the center to acquire young, healthy animals, but Ms. Miller said they are simply replacing what was lost.
Reba's death cast a pall over the center. The staff was devastated; the cougars didn't eat. Ms. Miller said the cubs bring an infusion of energy and excitement.
"They fit in here just perfectly," she said.
Contact the writer: jburton@timesshamrock.comAbout the Genesis Wildlife Center animals
A pig nose turtle swims in a tank at the Genesis Wildlife Center at Nay Aug Park. April 1, 2009. PAMELA SUCHY / Staff PhotographerPublished: Sunday, April 05, 2009
Updated: Sunday, April 5, 2009 9:20 AM EDTMore than 50 animals from over 20 species reside at the Genesis Wildlife Center. Click each for more information.
WILD CATS
Bearcat (1)
Cougar (1)
Cougar (1)
Fennec foxes (2)
Genet cats (2)
Lynx (1)
Tigers (2)
PRIMATES
Capuchin monkeys (3)
Lemurs (5)
Long-tailed macaques (2)
Patas monkey (1)
Rhesus macaques (2)
Spider monkey (1)
AQUATIC LIFE
Fish (1)
Galapagos tortoises (2)
Pig-nosed turtles (2)
Red-eared slider turtles (About 20)
Red-foot tortoise (1)
Russian tortoises (2)
Spiny soft-shell turtle (1)
OTHER
Fruit bats (5)
Two-toed sloths (3)
Various tropical birds
SOURCE: GENESIS WILDLIFE CENTER'It's like I lost a part of me' with video and photos
Published: Thursday, May 08, 2008
Updated: Thursday, May 8, 2008 1:00 AM EDTBut as the sun beat down on the zoo area, the Elmo doll lay alone in the middle of the cage, which still contains mattresses and blankets for each of Reba's animal roommates.
BY STACY BROWN
STAFF WRITER
Visitors to the Genesis Wildlife Center in Nay Aug Park stared into an empty cage Wednesday, as if expecting Reba the tiger to toss around the Elmo doll she often played with to the delight of those young and old.
But as the sun beat down on the zoo area, the Elmo doll lay alone in the middle of the cage, which still contains mattresses and blankets for each of Reba's animal roommates.
Reba, the beloved Siberian tiger, died late Tuesday. She was 15.
After Reba had been cremated early Wednesday, Katlynn, the cougar whom Reba helped raise, moved about slowly, apparently grieving for her companion. Katlynn barely mingled with the cage's other cougar, Dakota.
"Katlynn licked Reba's head as she died last night," said a tearful Margaret Miller, director of the wildlife center. "This is what people don't see: The real animals and what they're really like."
Ms. Miller raised Reba after she obtained her from a small zoo in Marshalls Creek in 1993.
"When I got her, she was nearly dead," Ms. Miller recalled. "Her mother didn't have any milk, one other cub had died, and Reba was in an incubator. I held Reba in the palm of my hand; she was so small.
"It's like I've lost a part of me."
Reba featured in a 2007 video about the Genesis Wildlife Center:
Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.com
Reba, a park favorite since her arrival here in September 2003, suffered a seizure three weeks ago and was taken to the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors performed an MRI, a CT scan and blood test, all of which failed to show why the tiger was ill, Ms. Miller said. The average life expectancy of a Siberian tiger is 8 years in the wild, but 20 to 25 years in captivity, she said.
"It was a fluke blood clot that caused the seizure," she said.
Tears flowed freely among the workers and passers-by at the Genesis Wildlife Center on Wednesday.
"I can't believe we won't see her anymore," said Jesse Walker, a Dunmore resident and frequent visitor to the Wildlife Center. "I heard about Reba dying, and I felt bad. I wanted to see if I could see her just one more time, but it was too late."
Ms. Miller said all the animals will eventually die, but the staff provides regular, first-rate care for all of them.
While the city pays heating bills and contributes $50,000 annually and the use of the building, Ms. Miller has said she needs about $150,000 more a year to run the facility.
The center has relied heavily on donations, and Ms. Miller has said that she often pays for some expenditures out of her own pocket.
One expense Ms. Miller would not have minded paying, if it were at all possible, was whatever the cost would have been to keep Reba alive.
"She was so adorable. Everyone loved her and she loved everyone," said Fern Norton, wildlife center volunteer. "Margaret (Miller) is devastated, as are all of us."
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/multimedia/GWCFOIA.PDF
http://thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/04/05/news/sc_times_trib.20090405.a.pg1.tt05genesis_s1.2420904_top2.txt - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 297
-
Puppy Mill Had Primates Too Puppy Mill Had Primates Too
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
NW Mo. puppy mill had primates too
WINSTON, Mo. (AP) -- Three people were charged late Wednesday with animal
abuse and neglect after authorities - responding to a call about an agitated
chimpanzee - discovered more than 100 dogs in squalid conditions in rural
northwest Missouri.
The Daviess County Sheriff's Department responded to a call Monday night on
a request to help capture an angry chimp running loose on a state highway
north of Winston. When officers arrived, the chimp opened the patrol car
door and grabbed the leg of a deputy, who fatally shot it, Chief Deputy Todd
Watson said.
"We never knew there was an animal like this in the county," Watson said.
When Watson approached the home that had reported the angry primate, he
heard barking from an estimated 100 to 200 small-breed dogs inside. He also
smelled a strong odor of ammonia, encountered "nasty conditions and filth,"
and saw a 10 foot by 6 foot cage which the occupants said had housed their
9-year-old chimp, Timmy.
The occupants told Watson they had three other primates.
Watson returned Tuesday with a search warrant and discovered all but 13 dogs
and two cats had been removed, their dog cages remaining inside the home.
Watson said he also discovered the remains of nine dead puppies in the yard,
and recovered records on breeding, sales, and deliveries of puppies that
brought as much as $400 each.
The Humane Society of Missouri is offering a $3,000 reward for information
on the dogs that were gone from the property Tuesday. The Missouri
Department of Agriculture said the three other primates were recovered.
Watson said the remaining 13 dogs and two cats had been abused and neglected
Two with critical injuries or wounds were taken to an animal hospital in St
Joseph. The others were taken to the Humane Society's St. Louis
headquarters.
Brent Hudson, 49; his wife, Cherace Hudson, 41; and their friend Mary
Overton, 52, were each charged by the Daviess County prosecutor with 17
misdemeanor counts of animal abuse and neglect, operating as a commercial
breeder without a license, improper disposal of dead animals, and keeping
wild animals without proper registration.
They were jailed on $5,000 bond and did not have attorneys, Watson said, and
none of the three was talking to investigators.
The sheriff's department led the investigation but called the Missouri
Department of Agriculture and the Humane Society to assist.
Agriculture Department spokeswoman Misti Preston said the USDA also was
involved in the case. She said the breeder never had a state license.
"There was so much filth and stink, it was pathetic," Watson said. "You
needed a gas mask in there."
The home was in a remote location, with no neighbors close by.
Missouri Agriculture Director Jon Hagler, who has said he wants to put bad
breeders out of business, said in a statement that such operators put the
health and welfare of animals at risk and place legitimate licensed pet
breeders at a competitive disadvantage. - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 174
- Not yet rated
-
L & L Exotics More Animals Sei L & L Exotics More Animals Seized
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
Horses, pigs, and more found to be in unsanitary conditions at Copley site.
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Apr 04, 2009
A Summit County judge has ordered that additional domestic animals be taken from Lorenza Pearson in Copley Township.
Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter issued a permanent injunction against Pearson and his ex-wife, Barbara Pearson-Brown, on Friday for keeping animals in unsanitary conditions. They are permanently barred from keeping exotic animals.
The two were also found in contempt of court and each was fined $150.
Hunter's 10-page order allows the Summit County Health Department and Copley Township to remove six horses, three goats, four pigs, three pot-bellied pigs, 20 ducks, one calf, five guinea fowl, seven chickens and pigeons from the Columbus Avenue property.
No action has been taken to remove the animals, said Bob Hasenyager of the Summit County Health Department.
Hunter cited the lack of fresh water for the animals; lack of a wastewater system; garbage, litter and manure strewn throughout the property; manure piles near food; rodent problems; and the open-burning violations noted in March 12 testimony.
''The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that defendants have continued to maintain their property and to harbor domestic animals on this property in such a manner as to create an absolute nuisance,'' Hunter wrote.
The judge cited the pair for contempt because they had violated her May 9 order by bringing additional domestic animals onto the property.
The judge said she would waive the fines if Pearson and Pearson-Brown cooperate with authorities.
''We're very pleased with the court's ruling . . . and hope that Judge Hunter has written the final chapter in what's been a long legal fight,'' said attorney Irving Sugerman, who represents Copley Township.
Efforts to contact Pearson, Pearson-Brown and attorney William Whitaker were unsuccessful.
On May 9, Hunter had ordered the removal of Pearson's exotic animals from L&L Exotic Animal Farm.
She ruled that the animals posed a threat to public health and safety because of the poor conditions of their cages. She ordered the operation shut down and the animals seized. They included eight black bears that were shipped to an animal sanctuary in Colorado.
Pearson had earlier removed three tigers, a wolf hybrid, a lion and a number of pit bulls from his farm.
A lawsuit, filed by Copley and the health department, said Pearson failed to comply with 2003 court orders to improve the site. In 2007, a federal administrative law judge found Pearson guilty of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act. He was found guilty of 26 violations and his federal license to exhibit exotic animals was revoked. The judge called the conditions of the animals deplorable.
Between 1999 and 2005, Pearson had as many as 82 animals at the same time, mostly exotic cats and bears.
In 2002, the Agriculture Department cited Pearson for 900 violations of its animal-care rules.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.A Summit County judge has ordered that additional domestic animals be taken from Lorenza Pearson in Copley Township.
Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter issued a permanent injunction against Pearson and his ex-wife, Barbara Pearson-Brown, on Friday for keeping animals in unsanitary conditions. They are permanently barred from keeping exotic animals.
The two were also found in contempt of court and each was fined $150.
Hunter's 10-page order allows the Summit County Health Department and Copley Township to remove six horses, three goats, four pigs, three pot-bellied pigs, 20 ducks, one calf, five guinea fowl, seven chickens and pigeons from the Columbus Avenue property.
No action has been taken to remove the animals, said Bob Hasenyager of the Summit County Health Department.
Hunter cited the lack of fresh water for the animals; lack of a wastewater system; garbage, litter and manure strewn throughout the property; manure piles near food; rodent problems; and the open-burning violations noted in March 12 testimony.
''The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that defendants have continued to maintain their property and to harbor domestic animals on this property in such a manner as to create an absolute nuisance,'' Hunter wrote.
The judge cited the pair for contempt because they had violated her May 9 order by bringing additional domestic animals onto the property.
The judge said she would waive the fines if Pearson and Pearson-Brown cooperate with authorities.
''We're very pleased with the court's ruling . . . and hope that Judge Hunter has written the final chapter in what's been a long legal fight,'' said attorney Irving Sugerman, who represents Copley Township.
Efforts to contact Pearson, Pearson-Brown and attorney William Whitaker were unsuccessful.
On May 9, Hunter had ordered the removal of Pearson's exotic animals from L&L Exotic Animal Farm.
She ruled that the animals posed a threat to public health and safety because of the poor conditions of their cages. She ordered the operation shut down and the animals seized. They included eight black bears that were shipped to an animal sanctuary in Colorado.
Pearson had earlier removed three tigers, a wolf hybrid, a lion and a number of pit bulls from his farm.
A lawsuit, filed by Copley and the health department, said Pearson failed to comply with 2003 court orders to improve the site. In 2007, a federal administrative law judge found Pearson guilty of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act. He was found guilty of 26 violations and his federal license to exhibit exotic animals was revoked. The judge called the conditions of the animals deplorable.
Between 1999 and 2005, Pearson had as many as 82 animals at the same time, mostly exotic cats and bears.
In 2002, the Agriculture Department cited Pearson for 900 violations of its animal-care rules.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com. - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 240
- Not yet rated
-
Jefferson City MO Tiger Abuse Jefferson City MO Tiger Abuse
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
I am at a loss, horrified and angry beyond belief. Some moron had a cage with two, supposedly 6 week old ½ lion/ ½ tiger cubs at the Jefferson City, MO 4th of July celebration. A 5x7 picture with them for $20, an 8x10 for $25.
I asked for names, where they’re from, do they have a license, are the cubs drugged…I was shooed away from the booth and told by officers not to return.
From a distance, I can tell you that the cubs were never awake during the 5 hours I was there and across the street from them (I had to work a booth at the event…I’m not just totally obsessed.) That certainly isn’t normal for 6 week old cubs (they weren’t that old.)
Enough with my indignation, WHAT DO I DO ABOUT THIS??!! I complained that someone had two tiger cubs at the event 4 years ago and they’ve been absent since then. Now they’re back.
Mayor John Landwehr is the chairman of this event : http://www.cityofjefferson.net/elected/landwehr.htm
The organization that puts this together every year is SaluteToAmerica.org: http://www.salutetoamerica.org.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 152
- Not yet rated