Jackson Mayor John Horhn issued the following statement.
The City of Jackson is committed to providing a safe, healthy and secure environment for every animal at the Jackson Zoo. Following the recent inspection, the City and zoo staff have taken steps to address the issues identified.
Hospital disrepair and pest concerns have been addressed by moving animals and completing necessary repairs. Expired medicines have been removed, and all animals are secure in their proper locations and receiving the care and nutrition they need. The zoo receives fresh produce weekly to feed the animals. Adjustments are continuing to be made to keep the produce fresh after it is delivered. Plans are also in place to remove uprooted trees on the property.
The zoo is continuing work to repair enclosures, replace HVAC units and improve sanitation. Hippo indoor exhibits are cleaned daily and disinfected weekly.
Zoo officials are also implementing a tracking and reporting process for corrective actions. This will help ensure that issues are addressed, progress is documented and communication with USDA is clear and consistent.
The City takes these responsibilities seriously and will continue working to meet the health, safety and nutritional needs of the animals in its care.
32 comments:
These damn Jackson officials and their obsession with keeping this "Zoo" open.
Delusion is a terrible condition.
The zoo needs to turn a profit sufficient to fund itself. If it can't do that the animals should be relocated.
Typical bureaucratic BS response.
Mayor PLEASE do the right thing for these animals and find them more suitable places to live. Sooner or later, it will all come crashing down on Jackson and the Zoo. These poor animals would disagree with you that this is a GREAT place to live in the Jackson Zoo. I'm sure if you gave them an option and they could talk, they would say, "Please get me out of this place or at least provide me with food and a bulletproof vest." The people of Mississippi need to help these animals and not trust the Mayor to do right.
Close. The. Zoo. Mayor. Horhn.
Mayor, being ashamed is not Jackson's claim to fame. Shut this joke down and move on to something productive like getting this shithole cleaned up. Your response has you looking more and more like a dunce everyday. We expected better when we voted for you. You have more behind you than in front. You can't beat the incompetence and race baiters in this city. Get your retirement and fibd you a home in a nice, clean, safe city to enjoy the rest of your life. We won't say you failed in the midst of failure.
The Jackson zoo has been the best thing to happen to the City of Hattiesburg.
yep he didnt mention who was responsible and how they were punished. Nothing will change because the same do-nothing bums are still drawing a paycheck to maybe show up once a week to throw some rotten food over the fence to the starving animals but forget about shoveling out their feces. The neglect to the facilities betrays they are likely not even showing up.
The Jackson Zoo denial is Rising.
Why is it such a political game to keep the zoo open, all four zoo employees can't have that much political power. Is there a way to close it for a period of time, raise money, fix it, tear down dilapidated buildings near by and reopen it?
But did anyone get fired over this?
Mr mayor I DONT believe you! It should never had gone this far! Why did you allow things to get out of hand at the zoo?
How do we know the mayor is telling the truth? USDA needs to investigate
reading each of the comments above made me want to 'ditto' each one as I read it - but as I continued, couldn't decide which one I agreed with more than the previous because they are all on point. 1:56 might have summarized it best but that is not demeaning any of the others.
Mayor, cut out this bulls**t defending this failure and admit that you are not getting the job done here any better than your predecessor, which was a very low hurdle to be measured against.
Shut this atrocity down and start focusing on some things that may actually produce some resulting improvements in the city. Attempting to keep this facility open (even as a bird and insect exhibit, as suggested earlier by your administration) is foolish - an unnecessary drain on resources the city does not have for absolutely no benefit to the city - all the while ignoring the absolutely inhumane treatment of these animals.
Shut it down now. Do your job. Focus on what is possible - and what actually matters.
"Typical bureaucratic BS response."
Absolutely !
They have a word salad script, where they can easily insert new words based on whatever the situation.
Whose dept. is the zoo?
The zoo has some of the best "no-show" jobs in city government.
Why is the employee parking lot empty?
Yo mayor, don't pee on my feet and tell me that it's raining.
why are they keeping the zoo open?......When you look at the budget, and read about the conditions, the 2 don't match, and starts to make me think the zoo budget is a "pass through" to divert funds elsewhere. pure speculation.......but no matter what is going on, this mayor was elected to make the hard decisions, and this is a easy one to make. The City of Jackson continuing to attempt to keep the zoo going is wrong. Sell the animals, secure the land, and transfer this budget to JPD/Public works and learn how to be a functioning city again. All the city of Jackson can afford to budget for and concentrate on is crime, infrastructure, road conditions, debris/trash.....everything after that is non-essential and the city can not afford to do the non-essentials
It's obviously a major tourist attraction, attracting tens of tens of visitors each year.
Assuming this zoo was in pristine condition, I would not drive through "the valley of shadow of death" to get there, much less with children in tow. The city can't meet the health & safety of its own citizens, much less these poor animals.
They could spend a billion dollars on it and make it the best in the country but until they can insure the safety of the patrons that wish to visit its not going to work. There is no way in hell I would take a chance with my kids lives driving through that area.
I had thought it might be a good idea for someone to show up @ midnight & open all the gates & let the animals out into the city...But then I thought the Humaine Society would get after them for animal cruelty...
“ The City of Jackson is committed to providing a safe, healthy and secure environment for every animal at the Jackson Zoo.”
Ummm no.
Clearly it’s not committed.
The City of Jackson is committed to providing a safe, healthy and secure environment for every animal at the Jackson Zoo. Following the recent inspection, the City and zoo staff have taken steps to address the issues identified.
If the city is so committed to providing a safe, healthy and secure environment for the animals these violations would have never happened. They would have been addressed when they became obvious. Why does it take an inspection to correct these violations that would have never been allowed if you cared.
The zoo needs to be closed! But if you insist on keeping it open you obviously need new management put in charge! The current management allowed this to happen. He's been there too long and it shows in all aspects of the zoo!
Look at all the animals who are and have been living solitary lives at the zoo. If you cared they wouldn't have lived or living by themselves. Mike, the rhino has been solitary for close to a decade. The last giraffe when he passed lived solitary for 7 or 8 years. The sable antelope, colobus monkey, the guenon, klipspringer, ostrich, black bear, Asian bear and many others all live solitary lives at your zoo! That sir is not caring!!
The mayor's response is AI written.
Is this why the CAO resigned?
Bullshit!
I am not a very smart person. However, if someone had fifty animals at their house being housed and fed under the conditions discovered at the JaxZoo by the USDA Inspectors they would be in Jail right now and CHs3/12/16/40 would be showing videos of them being led away in handcuffs on the news (OVER AND OVER) every night. Would someone smarter than me tell me why no one has been arrested for animal cruelty? All I can say is someone needs to be in Jail right now, awaiting trial. At this rate, the mayor is probably looking to hold a "Shoot the Rhino Lottery" ASAP before it dies of starvation or sanitation issues.
Charge $10,000 a year for a Cultivation License and $25,000 a year for a Dispensary License and provide killer weed!!! Profit!!
$15,000 Application Fee for Dispensary License.
Fix the train!! Solar Farm!! Windmill!!
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