(US-ca) Advisers to urge review of S.F. Zoo

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Nearly three months after a tiger escaped from its enclosure at theSan Francisco Zoo and mauled a teenage boy to death, a city advisorycommission will ask the Board of Supervisors to instigate a review ofthe facility's setup and exercise more control over the privately runzoo.Some Animal Control and Welfare commissioners are worried that changesmade at the zoo over the past couple of months only focused on publicsafety. They want the city to force the zoo to focus more on animalwelfare "and less on the entertainment of humans," said CommissionerChristine Garcia.Commissioners were precluded from voting on the recommendations attheir Thursday evening meeting because of a clerical error in postingthe agenda. Commissioners, who appeared unanimous in their support ofthe proposals, said their vote will come at a future meeting that hasyet to be scheduled.But they discussed whether to suggest that the city

supervisors createa zoo-oversight committee that includes animal welfare experts. Theyalso discussed a recommendation that the city transform the facilityinto a "rescue zoo" for exotic species rescued from private owners andincludes a wildlife-rehabilitation center....Thursday's meeting came just weeks after animal rights activistsshowed the commission a video that portrayed animals pacing in theirpens, swimming in their own waste and in the case of a giraffe,gnawing a hole in his barn out of boredom.-- full story:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/13/BAJPVJBJB.DTL http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join