Vegan activist accuses zoo of 'abducting animals'

VEGAN activist Maria Borde is calling on the Emperor Valley Zoo to "stop abducting animals".

This comes after the circulation of a video showing an albino Burmese python biting one of the zookeepers. She is also urging the public to stop supporting the zoo.

On Thursday, Mustard the python bit zookeeper Walter Bunyon while being fed. Bunyon placed a rabbit in the enclosure but Mustard, instead, bit Bunyon on the torso. A video of the incident was recorded by one of the visitors, which became widely circulated on social media.

In a blog post on her website Trini vegan.com, titled The Reason Why The Emperor Valley Prison Zoo Should Stop Abducting Animals!, Borde expressed her frustration and disappointment with the incident.

She wrote, "This is one of the many reasons why you should not keep any animals in a prison, particularly wild animals. They are meant to be in the wild for a reason."

She added, "Please stop supporting the emperor valley prison zoo. Animals are not objects. They are sentient beings and they deserve to be free like each one of us. Do not support an industry that profits from their suffering!"

Speaking with Newsday, Borde said the incident did not surprise her. She believes it was due to poor handling by the zookeeper, and that the python only "lashed black" after being startled.

"The emperor valley prison has this python abducted for over ten years. Ten years of being overexposed, flaunted around places and allowed to be overstimulated by crowds of people. Ten years of distress. Ten years of living in a four by four glass box. Ten years of being treated like an object or a toy that someone can play with or displayed — this prison likes to use this term. Animals are not displayed because they are not objects. Zoos are the only prisons whose inmates are all innocent."

Borde believes TT should, instead, implement animal sanctuaries for endangered animals.

"Animals at this prison are clearly overstimulated. Every day, they have to endure children and adults tapping hardly on their glass cages to get their attention and being exposed to a lot of noise. All of this causes great stress to these precious animals but guess what? They do not care because business comes first. Money over anything else."

She believes the zoo is teaching TT citizens that imprisoning animals until their deaths for entertainment and money is acceptable, adding that people can learn more about animals without zoos.