Don't Be Fooled, These People Are Dangerous!

So, I didn't plan to react to these Activists again, even after listening to their words at the Rec and Park Commission Meeting Thursday.  Then their display outside City Hall after the Meeting got media attention, and I saw this photo late yesterday in a KRON4 News article.

I haven't talked with many, so there might be more, but there have been a couple people I know, who think/thought these people would help in the effort to highlight why San Francisco Zoo Director Tanya Peterson needs to be replaced.  They are not helping.  Since most of their words are taken from previous News articles, some phrasing is accurate, but in my opinion their presentation of words is skewed and sensationalized.  

While I too believe that the Animals who have lost their lives, "did not have to", as Dawes quotes in her comments to the Commission, the tabloid way they going about presenting issues, really rubs me the wrong way.  Have they written or talked about each one of those Animals, what happened to them, why they lost their lives and why they think, they didn't have to?  My guess is that's a No on all points.  Holding signs like this, under a banner that uses the word "Abusing", is creating a slanted and abbreviated narrative, that only serves to further their agenda, not help the Zoo.  

Additionally, including signs about what happened to Pandas in Memphis, only shows they are riding the wave of San Francisco's Panda Plan to further their personal agenda.  None of these people have been present or vocal til now.  They do not care about the Zoo, the Animals or seeking to bring about changes that better the situation.  If they did, they would have been present since their last outburst in 2008. 

As I predicted from the first time they reared their heads, their agenda and their goal, is to get the Zoo shut down.  In my last post, I showed a quote by In Defense Of Animals, most likely local mouth piece Fleur Dawes, that states exactly that.  IDA is known for being Close Zoo Zealots, and they will (obviously) do and say anything to further their agenda. 

I have read through Justin Barker's SFZoo Watch, and while some bullet point suggestions in reference to change needed at Our Zoo, slightly echo my own, aligning himself with Fleur Dawes from In Defense Of Animals, and makes him part of her agenda.  Additionally, again as I predicted from day one, he does not go to the Zoo, and admitted that during his in person comments at the Commission meeting.

The Meeting archive video can be viewed at this link:

https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/46409?view_id=91&redirect=true

Hit start button first, then Item #6 San Francisco Zoo ... first is presentation by Zoo Staffer, then public comments start at 45:10 minutes in.

I have a really hard time with people who come out and spew fiery words, without taking the time to be at the Zoo, see things for themselves and talk to Staff themselves.  Pulling words and quotes from other sources is just not a valid approach in my opinion.  

In Fleur Dawes comments in front of the Commission, she mentioned a Bird "who plucks it's feathers from stress".  Did she go to the Zoo and see the Bird for herself?  Did she seek out an Animal Staffer and ask about the Birds history and condition?  Once again, I predict a definite no to the later.  I know this Bird and have spent time viewing him and his companion.  This past Monday, he sat at the fence with me for an extended time, eating while I talked to him.  He was not visibly stressed in any way.  That said, I have only seen him in this exhibit for a few weeks and haven't had a chance to learn more about him and his companion.

As I noted in my last post, I kept myself from posting about Zoo stuff for near two weeks.  I've been very at peace with that.  With my sweet visit with the Bird mentioned above and other Zoo Friends, it was a good Zoo week.  All I had planned for the weekend was to write a post about a development that made me happy. 

I've been saying, I'm done for some time, mostly for my health, but also for my own personal productivity, and honestly, there is not much more I can say, that haven't said in 900+ posts over the past thirteen years.  And, like I said, I wasn't even going to do this one, as after watching these two speak at Thursday's Meeting, I was so upset, ears pulsating, into the next morning.  I finally had to take anxiety medication when I woke up yesterday.

I truly don't know how to continue being so deeply affected by Zoo stuff.  It's been so many years that I have.  The Zoo has been a part of all my sixty years, but the level of involvement has been constant and passionate, since 5:30pm December 25, 2007, when I came home from my Christmas outtings, which included visiting the Zoo, and turned on the News.  I supported the Zoo through that tragedy, and my support has continued.  Only difference is, now I know too much, and my focus of support is solely on the Animals, and not the Zoo as a whole.  By that I mean, I do not support the way the Zoo is run or the management structure.  I support and advocate for a better Zoo, that will thrive into the future, operating at it's potential, soley FOR the optimum life experience of the Animals that call the Zoo home.

As I continue to navigate all things Zoo, and the upset it causes me, I will of course be vocal as new things arise, and probably even as the same bullshit continues, because I can't seem to help myself.

With all my efforts through the years, I was driven to document all the wrongs and fails, since no one else was being a Voice for the Animals.  I felt it was up to me, and if I didn't, I was letting the Animals down.  With all my words, suggestions, ideas, and solo championing, I felt it was up to me to save the Zoo.  At least, I made a difference in the lives of our three senior Chimpanzees.  And with that, I will close by saying, I will never give up trying to do the same for our Orangutans.  

If the City of San Francisco, Mayor Breed, the San Francisco Zoological Society, Board Chair Melinda Dunn and Director Tanya Peterson, are all in on the Panda Plan, they need to build the Orangutans a new home on the site of Triple Grotto.  They should not be allowed to build a new enclosure for Animals who do not live at the Zoo, when Animals who do have been neglected.  They can make all the statements they want that boast their accreditation, and no blame, but they know, Director Peterson knows, the disservice, disrespect and moral crime she perpetrated upon the Orangutans.  I saw it with my own eyes and so did everyone else.  Not one member of the Animal Care Staff, or myself, believe the illusion she has sold to others.  The proof is not only right there in the "habitat" they are languishing in, but clearly documented in my countless blog posts, photos and videos.  The Mayor is fundraising for Pandas, the Zoological Society needs to pony up funds for the Orangutans.  Director Peterson and the Society wanted Orangutans, and did nothing to house them appropriately from day one, five years ago.  There's alot of money in the Society, specifically the Board, and Peterson who is paid more than the Mayor and barely works.  Peterson and each Board Member need to write a check to the Orangutans.

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