"News of zoos’ financial woes stuns; Residents cite long history in Hub" by Eric Moskowitz and Jazmine Ulloa, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent | July 12, 2009
Zoogoers reacted with shock and sadness yesterday to Zoo New England’s assertion that it might be forced to shut both of the Boston-area’s zoos and turn over control of animals to the state, a move zoo officials said could lead to the euthanizing of some animals.
But even as several legislators vowed to override him, Governor Deval Patrick stood by the budget veto that slashed zoo aid from $6.5 million to $2.5 million in the belief that the private-public partnership can find a way to stay open by reducing its costs or raising money from visitors and donors.
“Like families throughout the Commonwealth, the state must cut back, and the $4 million reduction to the zoo budget is just one example of spending decisions we’ve made to live within our means,’’ Patrick’s spokesman, Kyle Sullivan, said in an e-mail yesterday.
I know where you can FIND THAT TYPE of TAXPAYER LOOT EASY!!!
Pigs at the State Trough
A Slow Saturday Special: Statehouse Slush Fund
Biotech Giveaway Was Borrowed Money
Massachusetts Residents Taken For a Ride
Slow Saturday Special: Day at the Movies
How many times I gotta put 'em up, readers, and HOW OFTEN is the AGENDA-PUSHING PAPER going to shovel such s***?
The governor cut the zoo funding as part of nearly $150 million worth of line-item vetoes he said were painful but necessary measures to balance the budget he received from the Legislature, as tax revenues continue to fall because of the troubled economy. Here is
ANOTHER PAINFUL but NECESSARY measure:
Patrick officials said they believe Zoo New England, which runs Franklin Park Zoo and the smaller Stone Zoo in Stoneham, could endure the potential cut by seeking more private funds, raising admission fees, or potentially consolidating both zoos into one Franklin Park flagship. Last year, the zoos drew about 40 percent of their total budget of roughly $11 million from admissions, membership, concession and gift shop sales, donations, and other private sources.
But state lawmakers in the House and Senate yesterday said they would push for the needed two-thirds majorities in both bodies to override the veto and restore full funding for both zoos in fiscal 2010, which began last week. In addition to losing the zoos as an economic and cultural resource, Massachusetts would end up on the hook for care of the land and animals under state law if Zoo New England folds, Representative Elizabeth A. Malia said yesterday.
“Cutting a budget for something like the zoo is a much larger project than just cutting the numbers off the page,’’ said Malia, a Jamaica Plain Democrat. “It’s not just that you can move the furniture out and lock the doors, and that’s it.’’
The latest budget cuts to the zoos angered some Greater Boston residents, who yesterday said they understand the need to pull back on state spending during tough economic times but believe lawmakers are making slashes in all the wrong places.
They have NO IDEA how RIGHT THEY ARE!
John Hitt of Milton and his family crowded inside the Franklin Park Zoo’s Tropical Forest exhibit yesterday morning with dozens of others to celebrate the birthdays of western lowland gorillas Okie and Gigi.
Children pressed their faces against the glass, as Okie, who turned 16 yesterday, and Gigi, who will be 37 tomorrow, came barreling into their den, colorfully decorated with streamers, tiny paper umbrellas, and beach balls stuffed with popcorn. The children shouted with glee as the pair tore apart their large, sand-castle shaped ice cake made of orange Kool-Aid and raspberry Jell-O.
Gigi, one of the gorillas at Franklin Park Zoo, celebrated her birthday early yesterday. She is 37. (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)
Also see: Gorillas as Guinea Pigs
Both zoos together attracted nearly 570,000 visitors over the past year. They provide child-friendly fun and education, residents said....
Franklin Park Zoo would have to lay off most of its 165 employees in addition to finding homes for more than 1,000 of its animals if it were to close. If zoo officials fail to find places to send the animals, they said state authorities might have to decide whether to euthanize as many as 20 percent of them, a prospect that disturbed many visitors yesterday.
I also wonder why the first answer to any problem in AmeriKa is KILL IT!
“Oh no, no, that is terrible,’’ Faith Imafidon, 23, said upon hearing the news. “Can’t they put them in another zoo, train them so they can go back to the wild or something, anything?’’
Ideally, they NEVER SHOULD have been CAGED; however, that is the BEST OPTION in my opinion. How would YOU LIKE LIVING in a CAGE?
But the zoos cannot possibly find housing for so many animals, said Mathieu Michaud, a sales associate for Stone Zoo, at the zoo’s ticket booth yesterday.... Some visitors at Franklin Park Zoo yesterday said it has looked rundown in recent years.
So WHO LOOTED THAT MONEY?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“They have not been great for many years,’’ said Bridget Connolly, who grew up in Danvers and has been coming to the zoo since she was 4. Connolly, who works at a nursing home, often brings clients and their families to the zoo.
Louie Comeau of Wakefield pointed to the murky waters where the Chilean and Caribbean flamingoes stood at Stone Zoo. “I do not understand why some of the money from the stimulus package cannot go into taking better care of the animals,’’ he said.
The zoos are operated through a public-private partnership funded by taxpayers and revenues from visitors. Adult tickets to Franklin Park Zoo are $13 and $7 for children, ages 2 to 12. At Stone Zoo, adult tickets are priced at $10 and at $6 for children 2 to 12. Many visitors said yesterday they would be willing to pay extra to keep the zoos open and the animals safe....
And that is what this WHOLE AGENDA-PUSHING PIECE is about, huh?
RAISING FEES or TAXES by PLAYING on EMOTIONS?
