For Immediate Release
Press Conference Tomorrow: Citizens to Urge City Council to Slow Dallas Zoo Privatization
Date: August 11, 2009
Contact: Margaret Morin, Concerned Citizens for Jenny, 972-571-9603 - Suzanne Roy, In Defense of Animals, 919-697-9389
Local grassroots organization seeks halt to zoo animal giveaway; wants oversight measures in zoo management dealWHAT: Press Conference against proposed Dallas Zoo privatization
WHEN: August 12, 2009 8:30 a.m.
WHERE: Dallas City Hall by the Fountains
Dallas, Texas–Tomorrow, Concerned Citizens for Jenny, a Dallas grassroots advocacy organization for elephants Jenny and Gypsy at the Dallas Zoo, will hold a press conference to blast what it terms a backroom deal to privatize Dallas Zoo and giveaway "ownership" of the animals there to the Dallas Zoological Society (DZS).
The group, armed with information provided by the national zoo watchdog group In Defense of Animals, is seeking to maintain city ownership of the animals at the zoo, retain public access to zoo information and institute meaningful city oversight of this public institution.
"The City is rushing to pass a deal to privatize our zoo without proper vetting and no opportunity for public input," said Margaret Morin, founder of Concerned Citizens for Jenny, noting that the item is on the consent agenda for the Council's August 12 meeting, meaning it could be passed by a single vote, along with 68 other items, and no public discussion. "The current proposal gives the Dallas Zoological Society $337 million plus city property, including the animals, and will cost dozens of city jobs. It's a sweetheart deal for the zoological society, but a bad deal for the citizens of Dallas and the animals at the zoo."
"What do the citizens get in exchange? We are losing our voice in how this public zoo operates and treats the animals who reside there," Morin continued. "These animals belong to the citizens of Dallas. We have a moral and ethical obligation to ensure their care. They are completely at our mercy."
The proposed deal lacks provisions to safeguard the public interest, Morin said. At tomorrow's press conference, she will release a memo circulated to City Council yesterday by Suzanne Roy, program director for In Defense of Animals, a national animal welfare and zoo watchdog organization. In the memo, Roy urged the council to take several steps to ensure public accountability, oversight and animal welfare in any privatization venture, by:
- Maintaining ownership of the zoo's animals.
- Guaranteeing continued public access to zoo information and records, currently available through the Texas Public Information Act.
- Establishing an oversight committee that includes representatives of animal welfare organizations.
There is precedent for all three measures in other zoo management agreements between cities and private zoological societies, Roy said.