L.A. Zoo was fined following 2006 deaths of Asian elephant Gita and chimpanzee Judeo

[Guest guest]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/07/los-angeles-zoo-fined-followin\

g-death-of-asian-elephant-gita.html

 

L.A. Zoo was fined following 2006 deaths of Asian elephant Gita and chimpanzee

Judeo

8:02PM, July 21, 2009

 

The Los Angeles Zoo <http://lazoo.org/> paid a $3,281 fine as a result of a

USDA investigation into the 2006 deaths of Gita, a 48-year-old Asian

elephant, and a chimpanzee named Judeo.

 

Although the fine was paid in January 2008, it wasn't made public until the

group In Defense of Animals

<http://www.idausa.org/>

released the details in a statement Monday. But according to In Defense of

Animals, the relatively

small fine is nothing more than " a slap on the wrist " to the zoo and shows

that the lives of elephants and other endangered species hold little value

to the government agency that issued it.

 

In Defense of Animals and other advocacy groups argue that Gita's death was

the result of negligence on the zoo's part. A night-shift keeper reportedly

noticed she was in distress the evening before she died, but didn't share

the information with veterinary staff. When she was discovered by two other

keepers the following morning, it was too late to save her, despite heroic

veterinary efforts. She died a few hours after the two keepers found

her<http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/11/local/me-gita11> in

the morning. (The night keeper later

resigned.

<http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4021692>

 

Judeo, the zoo's alpha male chimpanzee, died after being bitten by a wild

rattlesnake that had entered his enclosure. " We knew something was in there,

but we didn't know what,'' Jennifer Gonsman, a keeper who witnessed the

incident, told the Daily News

<http://www.thefreelibrary.com/L.A.+ZOO%27S+FAILED+FIGHT+TO+SAVE+CHIMP+RECALLED-\

a0149083360>

after the chimp succumbed to the snake's venom. " He stuck his hand in the bush

and pulled it out quickly and that's when he got bit. "

 

According to L.A. Zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs, the zoo agreed to pay the 2008

fine but had not admitted to violations specified by the USDA in its

report. " We wanted to move ahead, and the best way to do that was by

settling, " he told our colleague Carla Hall

<http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-zoofine21-2009jul21,0,2130468.story>.

 

From Hall's story:

Jacobs made available on Monday the zoo's 2008 settlement agreement with the

USDA, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act. The agreement says the zoo

" failed to assure an elephant received veterinary care in adequate time.

Elephant Gita was found in an awkward position around 9 p.m., and

veterinarians were not alerted to Gita's condition until around 5 a.m. the next

day. "

 

It also said the zoo did not provide veterinary care " in a timely matter " to

[Judeo] ... The chimp exhibit has been praised for its extensive landscaping.

But in this case, the USDA cited the zoo for " failure to restrict other animals

from entering the non-human primate enclosures. "

 

Jacobs insisted the zoo had taken excellent care of both Gita and Judeo,

calling Judeo's death a " freak accident " and pointing to Gita's care after

she underwent foot surgery. But to those who oppose keeping elephants in

zoos, the foot surgery itself is a tricky subject -- some argue that the

nature of confinement for the animals, which roam long distances in the

wild, causes them to develop foot trouble.

 

L.A. Zoo director John Lewis himself acknowledged that, in the past, Gita

and other zoo elephants were kept in barns with concrete floors at night.

Although the zoo hasn't kept elephants in such conditions in years, " we're

paying the price for how they were treated in their earlier lives -- no

exercise, being kept on concrete, " he said last

year<http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/01/local/me-elephant1>,

when a heated debate was raging over the zoo's Pachyderm Forest exhibit.

 

 

Comments

Can we finally start admitting that zoos are businesses and that animal

lovers who insist it is cruel to keep wild animals in confinement for their

entire lives for mere entertainment may actually have a point?

I have no doubt that some people who work at zoos care about animals. But

not the ones who see a problem, even a deadly problem, and simply walk away.

Nor the ones, like Director John Lewis, who pay hush money in the hopes no

one will ever notice the zoo's culpability in animal deaths, and who

point-blank refuse to acknowledge any personal or institutional

responsibility for animals' health problems.

Meanwhile, how much longer does Billy wait, in an enclosure that offers all

the charm and natural qualities of a parking structure, while Lewis

eventually, someday, maybe gives him a decent (though way too small) home

and God forbid, some companionship?

How much of Billy's life, the only one he has, is to be wasted while people

like John Lewis and the whole GLAZA oblivious rich contingent pat themselves

on the backs and tell each other at fundraisers and cocktail parties what

great animal lovers they are?

 

Posted by: L.A. Voter | July 22, 2009 at 10:44

AM<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/07/los-angeles-zoo-fined-follo\

wing-death-of-asian-elephant-gita.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef01157223ff78970b#co\

mment-6a00d8341c630a53ef01157223ff78970b>

 

This is outrageous! But, the more important issue is that this information

was withheld from the public and City Council throughout the hearings held

on the vote to STOP the construction of the Pachyderm Exhibit at the Zoo

despite claims from animal welfare activists that this abuse was occurring.

Speak loudly and clearly if you feel this sense of outrage and call the zoo,

and the media, and call on Mayor Villaraigosa who promised he'd have the

elephant released to a sanctuary but changed his mind after he was elected.

 

Posted by: Rebecca Dmytryk <http://www.wildrescue.org/> | July 23, 2009 at

05:53

AM<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/07/los-angeles-zoo-fined-follo\

wing-death-of-asian-elephant-gita.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571333234970c#co\

mment-6a00d8341c630a53ef011571333234970c>

 

We should put these people in charge of our children. But seriously why are

they allowed to confine any animals since they cannot take care of them

properly? And with the impending budget cuts one ought to reconsider the

recent decision to keep Billy the elephant. It would be best to find

suitable snactuaries for the animals and close the zoo.

 

Posted by: Mir | July 23, 2009 at 12:23

PM<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/07/los-angeles-zoo-fined-follo\

wing-death-of-asian-elephant-gita.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571351c67970c#co\

mment-6a00d8341c630a53ef011571351c67970c>

 

 

--

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui