07/14/21 Stop rescuing tigers by breeding and captivity!
A new scandal with wild animals indicates the necessity of introducing the Positive list and specific bans
- Animal Friends received new reports from Hvar: Many animals died due to bad conditions
The news that a tiger was being illegally transported from Hvar by ferry, in a cage under a tarpaulin on an extremely hot day, caused a great deal of attention. Although it has not yet been confirmed whose it is, the Animal Friends Croatia points out that Ivan Gospodnetić from Hvar and Zlatko Budin from Križevci, who own tigers, are not their saviors or benefactors as they present themselves in public. "Animals would profit if the so-called famous Croatian rescuers stopped ‘rescuing’ and ‘helping’ them. It is absurd and cruel to deliberately breed tigers knowing that they will never be able to return to the wild. Tiger has nothing to do in captivity and in Croatia, we have our own wild animals that need our help", AFC said sharply and announced new reports to the institutions.
Three years ago, they reported a farm on Hvar owned by the caterer Ivan Gospodnetić, which houses a large number of domestic and wild animals, some of which are exotic. They stressed that the animals are kept in small inadequate spaces, that they are frightened, apathetic and show signs of abnormal behavior due to limited ability to move in too small cages, in completely unnatural conditions, and adequate health care is questionable. "The veterinary inspection answered us then that the inspectors did not confirm the allegations from our report because it is not an unregistered zoo. But the answer would be the same if it was registered as a zoo. In Croatia, it is enough for an individual to fence a space, cram animals into it and inspections will legalize everything for him", they said.
They explain that based on the far-too-old Ordinance on the conditions for the establishment and operation of zoos, which practically does not prescribe any conditions or dimensions of housing, the illegal keeping of animals of the Bizek family and caterer Macola was registered as zoos, because of which bears ended up behind the inn instead of a sanctuary. Thus the veterinary inspection "rewarded" taking of animals from the wild: "We will also report new facts coming to us from the inhabitants of Hvar that many animals have died due to poor conditions and inadequate nutrition, including tamarin monkey, Simmental cow, snowy owls, ostriches, three-year-old Caucasian Shepherd, turtles, fox, raccoons, chickens, ducks, llama, dwarf Vietnamese pig, parrot jaco, crocodiles, royal python... Also, according to his neighbors, Ivan Gospodnetić's claims that he saved the tiger are completely untrue. They say he bought the tiger in the Czech Republic out of his ‘sick whim’, as well as other wild animals. ”
Animal Friends 13 years ago also reported tiger breeder Zlatko Budin from Križevci, who rented tigers as an attraction for performances in nightclubs, but even then the competent institutions did not react. They believe that the big problem is the lack of action of inspections and the lack of a clear legal ban on keeping wild animals by private persons. That is why individuals have been able to breed them uncontrollably and keep them in captivity for years. Due to that, the tiger of the caterer Gospodnetić is now pacing madly from one to the other side of his cage of only 50 square meters, and the neighbors are listening to his "cries for help".
Animal Friends points out that Croatia does not have any legal regulations for trade in exotic animals as pets, which is why they proposed the introduction of the Positive list, ie lists of species that can be kept as pets, which has already been adopted by several European countries as the best solution in preventing the terrible consequences of trade in these species. "When the Animal Protection Act was passed in 2017, the Positive List was even included in the draft Act, but was eventually rejected, although the Veterinary and Food Safety Administration has already begun preparations for its introduction. Last week we wrote to the Minister of Agriculture again and asked for amendments to the Animal Protection Act to enable the introduction of the Positive List and enact specific bans ", says AFC, which launched a new campaign this summer - Skip the Zoo (www.zaobidi.net). in order to educate the public about the brutal reality of zoos and the suffering of captive animals.
![Tiger from Hvar [ 1.31 Mb ]](/data/image_3_15230.png "Tiger from Hvar [ 1.31 Mb ]")
![Tiger from Hvar [ 125.96 Kb ]](/data/image_3_15235.jpg "Tiger from Hvar [ 125.96 Kb ]")
