On a recent trip to the North of Mexico with my girlfriend in the state of Chihuahua i visited a small zoo and was disgusted. I would like to add that anyone who has visited this zoo please dont associate in your minds as all of the zoological establishments of my country ,Mexico, because it isnt it is a representative of a disgusting attitude towards the natrual world as a way to make a profit common in people of all races and nationalities. Many of the locals had told me proudly of their zoo , so i decided to visit and afterwads wished i hadnt bothered. A rather ironic sign at the front of the zoo stated "Only the ignorant man mistreats an animal". The first animals i saw were a small herd of buffalo in a tiny paddock with not enough room to move , kneedeep in their own excretement, also a half starved horse , and some Zebu cattle also standing kneedeep in their own excretement. A cage incorrectly displayed as containing a European badger contained Coatis with nothing to climb on and in a bare concrete enclosure , likewise with an adjoined enclosure of raccoons. An enclosure of coyotes was so full and overcrowded many of the animals had deep and infected fight wounds. A pair of lynxs paced up and down in another bare concrete enclosure, 2 black bears were kept in a disgusting condition far too small too move and showing signs of phsycological damage. A tiny iron barred cage reminiscent of something from victorian England contained 3 lions all had fight wounds and one seemed to be half dead. One of the most ugly examples of cruelty too animals was a cage with a Bengal tiger far too small even for a dog all it had was a tyre tied to the roof which afforded no stimulation or enrichment to this wretched animal. A german shepeard dog incorrectly labelled as a wolf barked and snarled in yet another hideous cage , nextdoor were some pumas and jaguars both kept in the same cage. Some crocodiles were supposed to be in a concrete pondlike enclosure but i saw none and i suppose they probably died in such terrible conditions. Some collared peccaries were also in a condition of extreme neglect waddling around in mounds of their own excretement. The zoo had a hippo with a ridiculous cage and with too little water too enjoy a real soak which is necessary to an acuatic animal such as the former. I read a sign next to a cage containing capuchin monkeys encouraging children to feed sweets to the monkeys. A dismal looking spider monkey was kept in a small narrow cage not even fit for budgeiregars. The zoo had a "reptile" house with a tired and close to death looking barn owl in a small narrow box like "avaiary", and some ridiculous terrariums for rattlesnakes filled with pink feathers instead of a natrual designed terrarium. On the wall outside was a mirror and written above it was the most contradictory , ignorant , ridiculous things i have read "You are now looking at the most dangerous animal on earth" Well i realised that these particular human beings who own the zoo are particulary dangerous and idiotic members of our species. A motorised train was ferrying children around the zoo , and an attractive house in the centre of this zoo had a large swimming pool , if the owners could afford such luxuries why couldnt the animals be housed in better conditions ? Finally the most shocking thing i saw at this ugly little place was a sign offering "animales exoticos" for sale, including coyotes and baby jaguars and pumas. I had taken pictures with the intention of sending them to an animal organisation against cruelty to animals in captivity , but my girlfriend deleted them "accidently". I have managed to find the website of the zoo in question(which also states that exotic animals are for sale!), if any members of zoo chat would care to see evidence of this extreme cruelty. Here is the website Cabañas del Tioalbert / Zoológico de Chihuahua (tioalbert.com) Zoológico de Chihuahua (tioalbert.com) What should i do ? who should i report this too ? The problem is in Mexico fighting against animal cruelty is not a high priority of the government. I need suggestions from members of this site.
Dear Jose, It was painful to read your post about this horrible concentration camp for animals. I know that there are thousands and thousands of places like this in the world, but to read in detail from a firsthand witness about one of them... Oh God... it really makes me despair. However, I can not express in words my sympathy for your effort to try to do something about the situation. Is there no legislation whatsoever aginst cruelty towards animals in Mexico? Try to adress the Ministry of Agriculture or something like that. There must be some kind of official authority where questions like this can be adressed? Please don´t give up - do whatever you can! And very, very welcome to this web site, indeed!!! Best wishes Dan
Thanks for posting the comprehensive review of the ghastly and degrading zoo, and it turns my stomach to read about such animal atrocities. I visited the website, and was not overly shocked to see that the zoo's collection was for sale. I spent some time in the tiny Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago and the Emperor Valley Zoo there was a brutally barbaric institution. In truth it appeared to be of higher quality than the Mexican zoo featured on this thread, but there are many people throughout Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean who do not view animals with the same respect as many other nations around the world. Even Mexico's handful of premier zoos are not highly regarded in terms of world-class exhibitry, but they are at the very least miles better than the abomination described in the review.
Good on you for caring to post this on zoochat. That is allot more than many do. Next step l would suggest do-not visit this zoo again. Followed by the gahndi quote. "be the change you want to see in the world" You can work this into your life as best you can. eg dont but battery farm eggs. Dont eat pork. THE NEXT STEPS ARE WHAT GETS INTERESTING. Write a letter to all the govt agencies ect that come to mind. Date and keep a copy of each. Repeat to each that do-not reply withinn 1 month. Set up a website and find other locals that are also as pssionate about animal welfare in captivity. To share the experiance certainly helps with motovation and costs. My experinace is when you do the above. Things can often take on a life of there own. Good luck to you. Once again good on you for makng the first post. You have already done more than most.
thankyou everyone for your encouragement ,I'm going to write to the secretary of zoos and national parks and Im going to contact some animal rights organizations, but as I said neither human rights are a priority to my government. The best thing which can help in this matter I think is probably for some foreign animal rights organizations support,because it is unlikely any high official will listen to me. It is my great hope the attitudes towards animals prevelant in this nation change, but it will take a long time I'm sure as even human life is cheap here so as you can imagine animal life is even cheaper. Being a teacher of young children I always try to instill respect for the natrual world in my students. I agree that small changes are what make difference, I once lived in the state of Mexico in a small rural town ,I would often come across false coral snakes decapitated because of peoples ignorance and fear that they were real poisonous coral snakes. one day I was walking with an ex girlfriend when I saw some farmers in a commotion as I got closer I saw they had beaten a harmless false coral snake to death,I tried to explain to them that they shouldn't kill any more becausethey are non venemous but they looked st me as if I was dim witted . I am telling you that because this is what I'm up against a vast uneducated country where animals just are another way to make.... MOney
Hello my friend , well so far there hasnt been so much progress , although i have sent pictures and my impressions of the "zoo" to a few animal rights organizations in England. I received a reply but it was rather half hearted which was dissapointing... but im going to keep on contacting people. I hope my reply finds you well and your life in Australia
Jose ..... thanks for caring to take the time to post about this. As Dan said, we know animals exist in terrible conditions all over the world, being exploited for profit, but when you read a 1st hand eyewitness account it somehow makes it more "real". It's easy to feel it's an impossible, never ending task to campaign and/or object to places like these, because there will always be somewhere else, and always someone else to take its place. However, by publicizing such a foul place you are already taking worthwhile steps because the more bad publicity these places get the better as they will hopefully lose at least some potential customers. It's all heartbreakingly sad when clearly no care whatsoever is given to an animal's wellbeing and where (on the links) there are animals for sale ....... to god knows who and god knows what kind of conditions. (Am guessing from what you said before there is little or no legislation in Mexico regarding "exotic pets", for want of a better term). These are the details of the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) in Mexico. I don't think they are directly involved with zoo welfare as such, though they have helped zoos in war zones, for example. I just thought, if you haven't contacted them already, that as an animal welfare organisation with an office in Mexico, they would at least be well placed to hopefully advise you about who to contact if they can't get involved themselves: Tecoyotitla No. 274 Colonia Florida CP 01030 México DF Tel: +52 55 56 62 05 59 Fax: +52 55 56 61 48 59 [email protected] Similarly, the WSPA also has an office covering Mexico (though based in Puerto Rico). Again, their website doesn't specifically mention zoos - though I can't imagine they wouldn't want to help you in some respect ........ organisations like these must have a decent number of contacts: Oficina Regional para México, CA y el Caribe, Centro de Negocios Paseo de las Flores, Heredia. Apdo. postal 516-3000, Costa Rica Phone:+(506) 2562 1200 Fax:+(506) 2562 1225 Email:[email protected] Web:wspa.or.cr/ I have tried searching for local animal welfare organisations in Mexico as well but seem only to have found those for "companion" animals - obviously an important cause but probably not much help to you. I wish you every success in your campaign ........ I appreciate that the Mexican government has more pressing human concerns, and I also understand that it can be difficult balancing the needs of people against those of animals in poorer countries. However, such cruelty is inexcusable to most of us.
This is a brilliantly constructive post, GillP, and I sincerely hope that it can be of help to Jose in his noble struggle to do something about the situation in this horrible zoo.
I hope so too Dan ....... I have no idea where to start with something like this, in a country whose welfare laws are lacking (so no official body to appeal to, as I understand it). I really hope those well respected international organisations can give Jose some pointers. I keep thinking about the jaguar & puma cubs for sale - in particular. You can imagine how "cute" they must seem, like huge kittens ........ but then how quickly they'd become dangerous, and what would happen next. . They are obviously being bred to be sold on as opposed to any sort of breeding programme. So sad. (I just noticed I said the WSPA was based in Puerto Rico ..... it's not, it's Costa Rica, as per the address. Sorry.)
hello friends i am posting a new post in minutes , about my progress unfortunately it is going to be a short post because there is very little progress
Hello my friend from United kingdom , i very much appreciate your help and concern for this problem of mine and of my country , i will try with the organisation you mention because i think that they will probably show more morality then the organisations i have written to here in Mexico , i tried to adress this zoo to a animal welfare organisation in Mexico city but the problem that they only deal with domesticated and feral animals , and the hardworking volunteers of this group have so many hands full just in the city of mexico ,so i am very stuck on support here in my city. Also i have sent several e mails to the Chihuahuan tourist board and also some other emails to the chapultepec zoo but only i get half hearted replies from the national zoo and i get no response at all from the chihuahuan tourist board . I am very sad about this zoo i mention in Chihuahua because it is very inhumane , i think it would be maybe dangerous to confront the zoos owners as i suspect many of the zoos animals have been traficked and as is generally the case here many of the barbarians in the animal traffick trade have links to the drug traffick lords. I will still try my best though because i still hope that maybe attention will come of this , although i am very cynical to my government helping or for this matter any response from Mexican agencies , i think the most help i can expect in now is that of international organisations against cruelty of animals. Thankyou very much my friends
hello my friend , i will defnitely contact this organisation IFAW in my free time , also i am wondering but maybe it is naive , if zoological gardens in the United Kingdom would perhaps be suitable enviroments for these animals , i look on website of an organisation that rescued ocelot and margay cats from Mexico and Honduras i will send post The Rideway Trusts Achievements , by the way it is my opinion that the British animal welfare is the best in the world regarding saving animals
Hi Jose, I am afraid that I can do nothing to help you. I would just like you to know that I love and respect the commitment that you show! You are a truly good human being! Please don´t give up!
Sorry captivity Friday was a national holiday in Mexico. My sister Michelle and I joined friends Lizet, Arturo and their kids and drove to Aldama, just outside the city of Chihuahua, to go the zoo. The conditions were really bad. Is there an international monitoring agency one can complain too? Photos with subtitles: Sorry captivity | Iranian.com
