The economy is hitting everyone hard but when a recent statement came out of the folks that run the Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo in Massachusetts, there was instantly a major controversy. The statement said that without the restoration of funds that were cut from the Massachusetts budget which supports these two zoos, the zoo would not only close but they would be forced to euthanize the animals. Do we have to tell you what kind of outrage that sparked?? It was clearly a scare tactic taken right from a politician’s handbook.

 Well, most reports have indicated that they may have gone too far and their tactics may have even back fired, leaving many to wonder if someone will have to be held accountable for their unwarranted crying of wolf…

 The Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick has stated that he will not let the zoos close. Many families have enjoyed these treasures over the years it would be a shame to see such an institution go away. House speaker Deleo has indicated that he would try to override the governor’s veto of the cuts and make sure the zoos are funded.

 This economy is starting to make some people do some crazy things in all aspects of their life. Of course understandable; we need to keep a level head to get through these times. Making a statement about killing animals because you lost your budget is just plain dumb, uncalled for and quite frankly, shameful that someone would go that far to make their case. For people who not only make it their life to take care of and advocate for animals of all types, the whole situation just seems to me to be unfortunate. In my line of work, we call it PR 101. And in our opinion, the folks who sent this statement out flunked the course.

You can read a great article from the Boston Globe here as well as a report from Boston’s NECN; http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/14/the_zoo_that_cried_wolf/