Allegations of mistreatment of animals, sexual harassment of workers and financial irregularities at Dublin Zoo made in the Dáil by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy have been “vehemently” rejected by the zoo authorities.
Mr Murphy introduced an Emergency Inspection of Dublin Zoo Bill to highlight “a range of very serious issues” at the attraction and he called for an “entirely new system of independent oversight”.
His allegations included “very serious animal welfare issues culminating in the deaths of numerous animals and the disappearance of whole species from the zoo”.
He said: “There are credible allegations of harassment, including sexual harassment of workers by managers and financial irregularities.”
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Dublin Zoo, however, said it “vehemently disputes the allegations made today in the Dáil and objects, in the strongest possible terms, to the manner in which these claims have been raised without any prior engagement with the zoo”.
The Dublin South-West TD alleged a female staff member repeatedly complained about being harassed by a male manager, “who was eventually suspended for four months”.
“In another incident,” he told the Dáil, “three female members of staff were sexually harassed by a male manager at a conference. A subsequent HR investigation confirmed three instances of harassment. He is still a senior manager at the zoo.”
Highlighting animal welfare issues, Mr Murphy said workers at the zoo “are outraged at the neglect and mistreatment of animals”.
Mr Murphy had highlighted “the death of all African wild dogs”, an endangered species about which concerns were raised three years ago by the National Parks & Wildlife Service. He said one dog had been left with untreated cancer. “That species is now gone from the zoo,” he said.
He said a pregnant cheetah was moved from Cork’s Fota Wildlife Park to Dublin Zoo at Halloween. “She gave birth the next day and all the baby cubs are now dead. She should never have been moved when pregnant.”
Other animal deaths have included four bongo antelopes and a blackbuck “whose leg was snapped in half and left hanging on by a ligament after being inappropriately transported in a horsebox”.
He also highlighted the drugging of a family of elephants that had been separated. Two died from stress and the rest “developed herpes, reactivated by stress”.
The Zoo said in a statement: “The assertions are either wholly misleading, completely false or contain inaccurate and unsubstantiated clinical assessments.”
“Over the past three years, more than 50 similar anonymous allegations have been made.
“All have been fully investigated through independent reviews carried out by the relevant authorities and found to be either unfounded or historic and already resolved.”
Dublin Zoo said it “strongly refutes the animal welfare allegations”. The “welfare of our animals is our highest priority, and we are widely recognised for the quality of our care”.
