Subject:
CLOSE THE GUZOO NOW!

Message:
I am writing you to express my concern regarding the appalling living conditions of the animals and the lack of safety precautions for visitors at Guzoo Animal Farm, in Three Hills, Alberta. After over 20 years of government inaction regarding this deplorable roadside zoo, I was ecstatic when the Alberta Government's Department of Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) announced they were shutting it down with no appeal in June 2011. I was proud to be an Albertan. However, even though Guzoo owners claimed that they didn’t have enough money to upgrade the facilities, they were able to afford to hire a lawyer and now Guzoo has reopened. Thousands of Albertans, including myself, are shocked, frustrated and disillusioned that the SRD has caved to Guzoo, and is now pretending it is not an issue anymore. How can SRD ignore the report from the May 2011 CAZA-led investigation of Guzoo, based on Alberta Zoo Standards? The report clearly shows that the June 1st, 2011 decommission was not recommended solely due to record-keeping or aesthetic problems with Guzoo Animal Farm, as Guzoo owners have claimed. There are many shocking revelations mentioned in the investigative report. One particularly heartbreaking and stunning piece of information is the account of a bear who died recently after attempting to dig out of its enclosure and became trapped in the resulting hole. The bear was not removed and perished in the pit it had dug. Animals were often fed unsafe road kill, and one tiger died as a result of consuming "dead stock tainted with barbiturate”. Deficiencies with regard to animal care, husbandry, staff training, animal health, public safety and public health are all outlined within the report. The report also makes it very clear that not only does Guzoo have deficiencies in all areas of zoo operations, but it also outlines how unlikely, if not impossible, it would be for the zoo to ever be brought up to the arguably minimal Alberta Zoo Standards. You can read the report at http://tinyurl.com/cazafullreport. The ASPCA and SRD have both claimed that their hands are tied because the laws regarding animal welfare in Alberta are too vague. If elected, what will you do to change Alberta’s animal welfare laws? What will you do to shut down substandard, hazardous zoos such as Guzoo? Animal welfare is a very important election issue to me and thousands of other Albertans. I hope it is just as important to you. I look forward to your response. Sincerely,

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