Yesterday over a hundred zoo supporters and…well, non-zoo-supporters crammed into a hearing room at city hall, for the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee hearing. Everyone from senior management to teen volunteers came out to show their support, or at least that was the intent.
After two hours of other agenda items, item number 10 finally came up
(Ordinance adding Section 5.10 to the San Francisco Park Code to establish the San Francisco Zoo as a facility that primarily houses wildlife, domestic and exotic animals acquired from rescue situations, donations, and/or confiscations by law enforcement authorities; is committed to education and conservation, and makes animal welfare a priority; and to establish a Zoo Animal Welfare Oversight Advisory Committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors to advise the Board on policy priorities for ensuring that the needs of the animals are met.)
After introducing this next agenda item, Chris Daly used his power as the chair of the committee to reduce the amount of public comment to just 1 minute, from the standard 3 minutes. This public comment session was the only way for the zoo and it’s staff and supporters to vouch for what we do. Bevan Dufty refused to cut the time down, but Chris Daly bullied it through because Ammiono seemed to not care about this topic.
After this fiasco, and great model of democratic government for all the teens in room, we finally got going. To get this item rolling, Chris Daly asked for an update from Carl Friedman, who serves the city of San Francisco as the Director of Animal Care and Control. He’s been dispatched to the zoo by the Mayor’s office to help bridge the interests of the zoo and In Defense of Animals. Mr. Friedman only got a couple of minutes into his briefing, when Chris Daly decided to interrupt him abruptly, and told him to “just get to the point.” Multiple times Chris Daly said “I really don’t think I’ll be hearing anything I don’t know already, so lets just get this over with!” This was the tone of the entire meeting, and I look forward to getting the video from it on the internet.
Although this “Rescue Zoo” legislation sounds like it would be a good thing, it won’t. Currently the San Francisco Zoo “rescues” animals that were former pets, injured wildlife, etc. In addition to the current rescue capacity, we also participate in Species Survival Plans, Conservation Programs, and other Population Management Plans that help ensure our world’s bio-diversity, but with this legislation would have to stop. Passing this legislation will restrict what our zoo can do to save the worlds species, not expand that ability as it’s proponents think.
If you want to help the San Francisco Zoo, contact your district supervisor.