Press Release

Animal Awareness is currently is the process of campaigning to stop production on a new potential zoo exhibit that would educate the public about factory farming in an unrealistic and inaccurate fairytale portrayal.
Press Release Date: April 1, 2003

DC National Zoo Knowingly Misleads the Public
and Sets Back Public Education About Animals

Kids' Farm, a new exhibit coming to the DC National Zoo will be deliberately misleading the public about where our food comes from. And it is a controversial topic among the zoo staff because the exhibit will be the first at the zoo to refer to animals as objects for human-use such as discussing a cow as beef instead of a cow as an animal. Within a zoo, which is an institution that strives to preserve animal species and improve their situation, it is unacceptable to discuss animals as objects and as a "product."

This goes against the zoo's mission to educate the public about animal behavior and conservation, which should foster a respect for animals and their habitat. Factory Farming is severely detrimental to both animals and their habitat, which is the opposite of what the zoo's mission should support.

If the zoo has to lie and deceive the public in order to make the content appropriate for children, then the topic of Factory Farming is inappropriate for a children's exhibit.

The Factory Farming industry will benefit from having this deceptive, seemingly innocent, children's exhibit as a ploy to combat their growing negative public image. The public is becoming increasingly concerned with the many negative impacts caused by factory farming: harmful for human health, environmental degradation, sustains global hunger, and animal suffering. But, the Factory Farming industry knows that to keep the public buying their products, they don't have to prove their misinformation. All they have to do is to confuse the public as to what the facts are. Confusion leads to procrastination and inaction, which means the public just keeps on buying what they are familiar with instead of seeking out healthier and humane vegetarian foods.

Janet Deery, zoo volunteer and Animal Awareness President, discussed these concerns with the zoo staff. Many are equally concerned, though the top level remains unyielding. The exhibit is geared towards children ages 4 to 8 and will explain where our food comes from by having free-range animals and fun graphics. But a free-range, well-taken-care-for animal is not where our food comes from in the U.S. Almost all animals on dinner plates never saw sunlight and are forced to live in extreme confinement. Most live in their own excrement and among dead, dying, and diseased animals until their eventual brutal slaughter. These facts are unpleasant but they are the reality of factory farming. This is not appropriate material for a children's exhibit.

In response to the many humane organizations who have voiced concern to the zoo about this exhibit, the zoo claims that they will be showing fairytale imagery of a farm so that the children will have fun. They also say that it is not their job to teach about factory farming. But if the zoo takes on the task of having an exhibit that aims to teach about the "technologically advanced" factory farming industry and where our food comes from, then they choose to take on that task.
A children's exhibit should:
provide fun, be a source of accurate education, and not compromise the mission of the zoo


Contact & Additional Information:
Janet Deery
410-796-4599
janet@animalawareness.org




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