AR-News: (MN - US) Community goes into action to save goats at zoo from slaughter

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Community Saves Goats Condemned By Zoo
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by Nicole Allard
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Posted on November 15, 2003 
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Many small children love the goats at the Minnesota Zoo. They feed them, pet 
them, and they know their names. So, when the zoo announced it was planning to 
sell the goats for slaughter, the community was called to action. The zoo, 
which opened in 2000, has sold animals for slaughter before. Last summer, after 
budget cuts, staff layoffs and even a winter closing to save money, eleven 
sheep and one goat were sent to auction. This time, when reports of the latest 
proposed slaughter hit the news, fifty people signed up to buy goats and sheep. >   
    
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<A HREF="http://www.peta.org/news/NewsItem.asp?id=2648">Peta Condemns Minnesota Zoo's Planned Killing Of Zoo "Pets"</A>     
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Even though many of them dropped off the list, enough people came forward at 
the final hour willing to pay the $100 that the zoo needs for each animal. The 
zoo's conservation manager, Tony Fisher, told a Pioneer Press reporter that 
he no longer expects to send any goats or sheep to auction. The Minnesota Zoo 
encountered a huge reaction to their plan to sell their goats for slaughter, 
including a letter of protest from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 
(PETA). "Zoos should be safe havens for animals, not pitstops on the way to the 
slaughterhouse," Lisa Wathane, PETA's captive exotic animal specialist, wrote 
in the letter. >     
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<A HREF="http://www.anc.org/reprint/login/index.cfm?type=farm&identifier=2003_1115_goats">Reproduce this Article on a Web Site or in Print</A>    
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Wathane stated that the killings would be "not only unethical", but also "in 
direct violation of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's disposition 
policy, which is intended to ensure that the welfare of individual animals is 
carefully considered during placement, and that animals from AZA-member 
institutions are not transferred to individuals or organizations that lack the 
appropriate expertise or facilities to care for them." According to the Vegan 
Society, around 4% of goats are killed by ritual slaughter, which means that the 
goats are fully conscious when their throats are cut. Female goats who provide 
milk are usually slaughtered at six to eight years of age, although their natural 
life expectancy should be around fifteen years. Male goats, if not used for 
meat, are slaughtered at birth with an overdose of carbon dioxide, chloroform 
or barbiturates. 
Sources
Pioneer Press
www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/living/education/7193668.htm
APPLE VALLEY: Callers take bull by the horns to save goats Vegan Society
www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/exploitation/goats.php People For The 
Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA)
www.peta.org/news/NewsItem.asp?id=2648
Peta Condemns Minnesota Zoo's Planned Killing Of Zoo "Pets" 
    
    
 
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