Summer in the City! Two Local Issues Heat Up

Hot dog! Pet issues are heating up! photo: AdobeStock

It’s July and summer in the city is in full swing!

Here in San Francisco, that means it’s time to put away your heavy jacket and replace it with your slightly less heavy jacket. But while truly hot weather may elude us, it’s still refreshing to know it’s summertime and the living is easy.

But is it easy for everyone?

Regarding animals, there are two issues - one involving the San Francisco Zoo, the other the Chaparral Corporation - that have been particularly heartbreaking for many local residents. Both have been covered extensively in the local media and were discussed at last month’s commission meeting. Although commissioners were - and still are - examining information about both, we thought it was important to put them on our agenda so that we could share what we had learned so far, discuss next steps, and talk about ways the commission could help those animals who are impacted.

Our discussion started with the San Francisco Zoo, including reported safety issues at the zoo and the anticipated arrival of giant pandas from China. The San Francisco Chronicle recently covered a number of serious safety issues being raised about the zoo, which zoo authorities immediately disavowed as “misrepresented information” that contained “many inaccurate facts.” Zoo officials also stated that they were proud of the zoo and its teams.

In response to the Chronicle articles, an internal investigation is now being conducted at the zoo, though the specifics are unclear. Unfortunately, more information hasn’t been forthcoming about the investigation – or at least we haven’t seen it yet – but we hope the zoo authorities will be more open to communicating with the community in the near future.

Along with the zoo safety issues, local media has extensively covered Mayor London Breed’s efforts to bring two giant pandas to the zoo. Although the plan still isn’t definite, there is now a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese government in place, and the Board of Supervisors recently approved additional ways to fundraise for a suitable zoo habitat to house the pandas.

Meanwhile, a number of animal advocacy organizations, including In Defense of Animals and SF Zoo Watch, have started campaigns to bring awareness about pandas’ lives in zoos generally, as well as the history and current issues related to the San Francisco Zoo in particular. As part of these campaigns, a number of people have sent email messages to Mayor Breed and other city officials and public bodies asking them to stop the pandas’ transfer to our zoo. During the last few weeks, the commission has received over 9,000 email messages voicing concern about the pandas and safety issues at the zoo. The commission also received voice mail messages and public comments at our meetings regarding the zoo.

In addition to zoo issues, commissioners discussed concerns about the horses in Golden Gate Park, which have received local media coverage as well, primarily by the San Francisco Standard. As a recap, back in November 2019, the Chaparral Corporation was awarded a city contract to provide horse-riding services in a few locations run by the city, including Golden Gate Park. But during the last five years, there have been a number of documented incidents that raised concerns not only for the horses’ safety, but also the safety of people who purchased rides, as well as those working for Chaparral. Many of these concerns were highlighted in a whistleblower report from 2021.

Chaparral’s contract to operate was renewed during this period, but just prior to the newspaper articles appearing, the contract was revoked, and the city ordered Chaparral to stop operations. Although Chaparral is no longer operating in San Francisco, questions remain over exactly what happened, how it happened, and whether horse riding should continue in the city at all.

The commission is continuing to collect and review information about both the San Francisco Zoo and Chaparral’s horse-riding operation. Commissioners are extremely appreciative that representatives from SF Zoo Watch and In Defense of Animals, as well as animal advocate Rosemary Passantino, have offered to assist us in our research. We also hope to continue discussions with representatives from the Department of Recreation and Parks and to offer invitations to zoo officials and the mayor’s office to provide information or present to the commission.

There is still much to do on both these fronts, and the commission looks forward to working with the community to ensure all animals in our city are safe and are treated compassionately and humanely. If you have any relevant information or would like to share your thoughts on these issues, please reach out to us. I know that together we can make a difference.

See you at City Hall!

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The next meeting of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare will be held at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, July 11, in Room 408 at City Hall (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102). Information concerning remote access to meetings is available on our website at https://sf.gov/animalcommission. Agendas for upcoming meetings are published 72 hours prior to that meeting.

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Please be aware that the views and opinions expressed in this column are those of Commissioner Torres and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare.