We all want the animals to be healthy and have a wonderful life in their exhibits and in their environment. And so, but shit happens, too. Animals don’t read the book. So animals run into the wall, or animals get their foot stuck in this, and that, and the other. Read More
Nobody gets in the zoo business to, who gets in the zoo business to hurt the animals?… Read More
You don’t wanna use the words right and wrong, because if I say I’m right, I’m implying that you’re wrong. But you might not be wrong. You have your opinion, I have my opinion. So it’s not that you’re right, it’s not that I’m right and you’re wrong. We just… Read More
And that is that you should never use the words “right and wrong.” You know why?… Read More
As a matter of fact, that’s something that one of my mentors taught me years ago. And they’re so, so right about it. Read More
You talked about it to animal welfare, and what does that mean?… Read More
Animal welfare is different than animal rights. Animal welfare, when you’re talking about animal welfare, you’re talking about the best possible way that you can take care of the animals in your care, and you’re not necessarily talking about space. You’re talking about how to best care for that animal… Read More
It’s kind of the same thing. Animal husbandry is about how you take care of the animals. And we have manuals and everything else on how to take care of the animals in each of our zoo areas. So you wanna be very cognizant, and constantly evolving, constantly learning, and… Read More
And so that was their sole focus. And so they did a very in depth inspection, and we were terrified what it was gonna be, ’cause they actually give you a score. I mean, they give you a number score. And we were very happy when we got a 90… Read More
So, our team was actively involved. We were very involved in AZA, we had SSP coordinators at our zoo. We were very involved when we left. Couple of quick questions to finish up kind of a little on this part of Pittsburgh Zoo. Read More
What do you think the Pittsburgh Zoo’s responsibilities are?… Read More
And their sole purpose is to look at, are the animals humanely treated and cared for?… Read More
Are they humanely treated and cared for?… Read More
So it’s a very unique organization because it welcomes everybody. It’s very inclusive, where AZA has become exclusive. ZAA is inclusive and welcomes everybody, anybody wants to learn and be involved. Now, so you received an accreditation from them. Read More
Did you have accreditations from other organizations?… Read More
We did actually. We had years earlier become a member of American Humane. We were one of the very first organizations, the seventh one, as a matter of fact, that passed their very intense, hardest inspection I’ve ever been through, 90 some page report from them on every single animal… Read More
And the philosophy is that we want everybody to have a place to come, and to learn, and to improve their animal care, learn and improve their conservation programs, their education programs, get involved in conservation. Anybody. Read More
A true membership organization, really a true membership organization. And what I love about ZAA is that it’s unique. It’s a very unique organization, and it has that over other organizations because it’s a membership organization first with an accreditation option. So it can be accredited, and we have 63… Read More
Why would we turn away anybody who wants to learn and improve their animal care and welfare, why would we turn them away?… Read More
What you doing?… Read More