A New York zoo, accused of animal abuse, is set to close. Local officials chose to strip funding from the zoo in Long Island, which is the city's largest.
The Hotlsville Ecology Center's zoo will shut down. Brookhaven's Town Board unanimously voted to cut funding for the zoo last Thursday. It came as part of a budget bill. The city is doing away with $2 million in funding it paid to keep the New York zoo open.
"There needs to be far more in terms of an investment and resources into even attempting to run this operation properly," explained Town Supervisor Dan Panico at Thursday's board meeting, according to the New York Post.
The zoo has 100 animals, but has been operating at a yearly loss. Animals include bad eagles, bobcats, buffalo, and more. Many of these animals can't survive in the wild. However, the closure comes after allegations about animal abuse at the New York Zoo. Animal rights activists accused zoo workers of letting a mountain lion drown and allowing a bear named Honey to slowly waste away in an enclosure. The bear's teeth health became a topic of debate.
New York Zoo Will Close
Daniel Losquadro, the head of the Town of Brookhaven's Highway Department, defended the zoo over the allegations.
"People are entitled to their own opinion but they're not entitled to their own facts," he told The Post. "The only time that is done is if we have concerns about her health and wellbeing and she wouldn't move on her own. If she didn't want to go inside it would at least cool her off. The only time we would ever wet her down was if she was hot and if she wasn't going into the shade so we would cool her down, that's all."
There have been other allegations as well. However, Kristin Layer, caretaker at the New York Zoo, says the closure comes down to old fashioned politics. "The REAL REASON for the 'closure' is because of 'budget cuts' YET our town [leaders] gave themselves over $30,000 raises this year, INCLUDING [Town Supervisor] Dan Panico," Layer said on Instagram.
Despite the allegations, many will miss the New York Zoo. One local reflected on the closing.
"It's very sad, I take my grandkids here all of the time, and they love it," she said. "But if they're mistreating the animals, they have got to go. The whole point of that place is to take care of animals that can't take care of themselves."
