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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPETA wants Duluth zoo prosecuted after animals die in massive flash flood.
After the floods in Duluth, the seal that escaped the zoo and the polar bear that escaped its enclosure got a lot of coverage, leading to this. http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2012/06/duluth_flood_peta_wants_lake_superior_zoo_prosecuted_for_animal_drownings.php
The animal rights group says the animals shouldn't have been left in a position to drown. Kristin Simon, senior cruelty caseworker for PETA, pointed out during a phone interview with the Duluth News Tribune that flash-flood warnings had been issued in the Duluth area, and cited a similar-but-less-severe 2010 flood in making a case that staff should've been better prepared.
"At the very least, PETA would like to see the zoo put in standard emergency operating procedures into place," she said. "It's just a shame that this kind of tragedy was required for common sense to kick in... We would like to see a full investigation into this matter and we would like to see cruelty charges filed against those who failed these animal victims."
Three birds -- a turkey vulture, raven, and a snowy owl -- plus six sheep, four goats, and a donkey are believed to have died as Kingsbury Creek overflowed, though the raven may have flown away. A seal escaped and crossed Grand Avenue -- resulting in the unforgettable photo seen below at left -- and a polar bear got out of her exhibit only to be tranquilized before she left the zoo premises. The zoo's two seals the polar bear are now at St. Paul's Como Zoo.
Fortunately, the city attorney is saying, "Um, no." And in the meantime, the city is facing at the very least a $100 million price tag to clean up. I'm guessing that number will at least double.
Drale
(7,932 posts)He killed all those people and all those animal with his flood!!! Seriously PETA does more to hurt their cause then they do to help it.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Yet these morans want to prosecute the zoo. They are dumb enough to be Republicans.
MineralMan
(146,317 posts)PETA is an ass.
RegieRocker
(4,226 posts)if they did not inform the zoo that this could happen for at least ten years before occurrence. Hind sight is 20/20
4th law of robotics
(6,801 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)exboyfil
(17,863 posts)probably are in grief over their loss and PETA comes along with a stunt like this.
No better than Westboro Baptist in my opinion. Who supports these people?
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)The zoo has been through a lot of difficulty in the past few years, but no one doubts the keepers' dedication to the animals.
marmar
(77,081 posts)nt
Blue Owl
(50,427 posts)Prosecution seems a little harsh and I hope they get the funding to improve the facility so this doesn't happen again. They shouldn't have to use those funds to pay a PETA lawsuit.
cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)But most of them are upper-middle class dumbfucks that are totally ignorant of the cruelty of Nature.
Logical
(22,457 posts)agent46
(1,262 posts)to hate PETA for standing up for animals.
kurtzapril4
(1,353 posts)Damn that PETA for stating the obvious...the zoo didn't have an emergency plan in place, and some animals died a very unpleasant death due to the zoo's negligence.
Maybe the zoo shouldn't be sued. Maybe they should lose their licenses and accreditations. They sure aren't competent enough to be allowed to keep animals.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)Zoos don't need accreditation to keep animals. The Lake Superior Zoo lost its accreditation several years ago and the workers and managers there worked their asses off to get re-accredited; it was a big day when they achieved it.
Blaming the animal deaths on negligence shows a real ignorance of what happened that night.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)yewberry
(6,530 posts)The websites you've linked to are disinformation sites.
Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)PETA: Zoo Animals Didn't Have to Die .
Written by Alisa Mullins
17 hours ago
Could the Lake Superior Zoo have taken steps to prevent the deaths of 14 animals, including a donkey, sheep, goats, a snowy owl, a turkey vulture, and a raven, after their enclosures were engulfed in floodwaters during a flash flood last week? PETA thinks so, and we sent a letter to the Duluth, Minnesota, city attorney urging him to charge the zoo with cruelty.
Minnesota's animal protection laws define "cruelty" as "every act, omission, or neglect which causes or permits unnecessary or unjustifiable pain, suffering, or death" and state that anyone who deprives any animal of necessary shelter or causes or allows any animal to be unjustifiably injured or killed is in violation.
In our letter to the city attorney, we pointed out that the zoo had advance warning of the risk of flash flooding and that the same creek that flooded the zoo had caused flooding at the facility two years ago.
These animals had no way to save themselvesthey were at the mercy of their caretakers, who let them down in the worst possible way. If zoos are going to confine animals to cages so that people can spend a Saturday with the kids gawking at them, the least that they can do is to make sure that the animals aren't swept away in a flood while the people who are supposed to be safeguarding them are safe at home in their beds.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)The entire town had "advance warning" of the risk of flash flooding. Duluth is built on 11 named creeks and rivers, and countless minor streams and creeks that are confined to culverts; it's a well-drained town. When there's flash flooding, heavy rains make the creeks rise; some storm sewers back up, there's puddles for an hour, and then things are back to normal. This was completely unlike anything that has happened in decades, if not a century.
The incident two years ago resulted from construction on a BNSF track outside the zoo; IIRC, BNSF paid for the damage it caused, which was nothing like a flash flood.
Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)A culvert failed in the 2010 flooding. A culvert failed in the 2012 flooding. Sounds like a pattern.
If a zoo wants to exhibit animals, it should have plans to ensure animal safety. Given that there is a creek running through the zoo and it had caused severe flooding only two years earlier, it seems reasonable to expect the zoo to have a flood plan in place that goes a bit beyond uff da.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)normal thunderstorm came through and the culvert, which is not on zoo property and the zoo had nothing to do with, collapsed. When the creek began to rise, they moved the one animal in danger. It was not "severe" flooding -- disruptive, but not severe. What happened this week was totally beyond the scope of what one might reasonably -- and even not-so-reasonably -- expect here. It's like being outraged that the Los Angeles Zoo hasn't planned for a foot of snow.
Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)Heavy rains are much more likely in Duluth than a foot of snow in LA.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/364903/
<edit>
The infamous storm of August 20, 1972, dropped up to 4 inches on parts of Duluth in less than two hours, causing massive flash-flooding and damage in the citys Hillside. Much the same as this weeks event, the 1972 storm came after the city already was saturated from ample rainfall in the weeks leading up to the storm.
According to storm documents from the University of Minnesota, the 1972 storm caused an estimated $12 million in damage and was called Duluths worst natural disaster to that point. To put that in perspective, thats about $66 million in 2012 dollars.
In 1972, another heavy rain fell on Duluth on Sept. 20, up to 5.5 inches, just a month after the August flood, causing an estimated $1 million additional damage.
more...
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)What happened this week was a 100-year event.
Marinedem
(373 posts)They might have been relevant once upon a time, but I sure as hell don't remember it!
Karmadillo
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and it goes on and on and on...