Letter to MAF/DOL March 2009

8/8/2019 Letter to MAF/DOL March 2009

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Dear Minister

Ove r the p ast few m onths I have c onta c ted your ministry ab out m y conc erns for sa fety

a t Zion Park, Kam o, Whanga rei.

To d ate it would a pp ear that nothing has been d one to ad dress those c onc erns.

I wish to m ake it c rystal c lear that I a m c ontacting you, not as a n ac tion to in som e w ay

advanc e a n ulterior mo tive with reg ards to m y d ispute over the ownership of Zion Park,but as a genuine c onc ern for the hea lth and sa fety of sta ff and visitors a t the pa rk, and

memb ers of the public living in the vic inity .

I wa s d ismissed in p a rt for purported ly stop p ing som e o f the c lose c onta c t enc ounter

tours for v isito rs. I d id so for the same reason as I write to you now. It is a lso true tha t Iadjudged Demetri Pric e to b e one who I c onside red to be a da nger to himself and

others. I b roug ht this to the no tic e o f my mother, the p ark manag er. Rec ent fa c ts have

show n my c onc erns about this sta ff mem ber to have been well founded as he ha s nowbeen injured by one of the c at s.

I have worked w ith b ig ca ts for 17 years a nd have a first c lass unde rstand ing of the irbehaviour. I have w orked with thesepa rtic ular big c a ts, som e o f them up to 11 yea rs,

and I know them better than a nyone e lse.

It is as an expert in this field tha t I now te ll you, aga in, tha t the p rac tic es tha t a re g oing

on a t Zion Park will, inev itab ly, lead to the serious injury or dea th of sta ff and / or

members of the p ub lic . It is as simp le as tha t.

The p ra c tic es I spec ific ally refe r to invo lve the hand ling o f tigers and lions a t the Park,

whether as pa rt of a tour, or during o ther non-pub lic ac tivities.

I will give you four examp les of the ma ny of whic h I, and now you, are a wa re:

(1)In all the a bove p hotog raphs (taken in Dec ember 2008 and January 2009) thereis nothing , neither b a rrier, nor restraint, nor keeper, betw een the anima l and the

member of the p ublic . This is a highly da ngerous p rac tice and is utte rly

unacceptable.

(2)The lions and other b ig c a ts a re b eing used for interac tions in a n unfenc ed a reaand could escape and injure som eone pa rticula rly as ge neral tours a re still going


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PUBLIC ENCOUNTERS WITH ZOO ANIMALS ON AND OFFSITE

Where contact between animals and visitors is promoted, or visitors allowed unimpeded proximity to animals, the

environment and supervision p rovided must be sufficient to p rotect animals, visito rs and staff from anyincreased risk o f harm. The a b ove photog rap hs dem onstra te tha t this is not the c ase.

In addition to this s tandard, all operators must meet their obligations under the Health and Safety inEmployment Act to protect staff from harm (including inju ry caused by animals) during animaldemonstrations and encounters o r whenever staff are in con tact with animals.

See the relevant legislation referred to above:

Health and Safety i n Employment Act, Section 16 (2):

A person who con trols a place of work (other than a home occupied by the person) must take all practicable stepsto ensu re that no hazard that is o r arises in the place harms people

o (a) Who are in the place with the express or imp lied consent of the person; ando (b) Who

(i) Have paid the person (directly o r indirectly) to be there or to undertake an activ itythere; or

(ii) Are there to undertake activities that include buying or inspecting goods from whosesale the person derives or would derive (directly or ind irectly) any gain or reward.

"All p rac tic ab le step s", in relation to ac hiev ing any result in a ny c irc umstances, means

all step s to a chieve the result that it is rea sona bly p rac ticable to take in the

c ircumstanc es, having regard to :(a ) The na ture and sev erity of the ha rm tha t may be suffered if the result is not

ac hieved; and

(b) The c urrent state of knowled ge a bout the likelihood tha t harm of tha t nature and

severity w ill be suffered if the result is not a c hieved ; and

(c) The c urrent state of knowledg e a b out harm of tha t na ture; and

(d) The c urrent state of know ledg e about the m eans ava ilable to a c hieve the result,and a b out the likely effic ac y of ea c h; and

(e) The a va ilab ility and c ost of ea c h of those means

To a nswer these po ints I sta te tha t:

(a )The na ture a nd sev erity of the ha rm is extreme serious injury or death.(b )The c urrent state of knowledg e a b out the likelihood tha t harm o f that na ture

and seve rity will b e suffered if the result is not a c hieved ; I have now ma de youawa re tha t it is not only likely but it is a n inevitability

(c )The c urrent state of knowled ge ab out ha rm o f that na ture attac k by a big catc an b e nothing b ut extreme ly serious.


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(d )The c urrent state of knowled ge ab out the mea ns ava ilable to a c hieve the result,and ab out the likely effic ac y of eac h either source a nd em ploy a c omp etent

person, this desc ription d oes not ma tc h a nyone c urrently emp loyed at the Park,

or sto p the tours. In any eve nt the tours should b e sto pp ed immed iate ly until suc h

measures hav e b een ta ken.

(e )The a va ilab ility and c ost o f each of tho se m ea ns there will be a financ ialimp lic at ion in stopping tours but this pales into insignific anc e of the financ ia l

implic ation of ignoring this hazard a nd a death ensuing.

Following on from this, my understand ing o f the MAF Co nta inment Standa rds in relation

to p ublic interac tion is a s follows:

Any contac t between p ublic a nd zoo anima ls will only be permitted for enc ounter

p rog ram mes under stric t supervision b y a Biosec urity New Zealand ac cred ited animal

handler w ith the app rop riate classifica tion for the type o f programm e conc erned .Minimum requirements for c lassific a tion as animal ha ndlers a re d eta iled below. In order

to achieve this the animals have been grouped according to potential threat tohuma ns (see sec tion 6).

Accreditation as an Animal Handler - All Senior Animal Hand lers who a re involved in

public enc ounters and responsible for tra ining Sec ond ary Animal Handlers wherec onta c t between anima ls and visitors is p rom oted must be a c c red ited by Biosec urity

New Zeala nd. Rec ommend a tions for ac c red ita tion w ill b e soug ht from the New

Zea land Zoo Industry. The seniority of an a nima l tra iner should no t only be dep end ent

on the amount of yea rs the individual has bee n tra ining a nima ls, but also the ab ility of

the individua l to suc c essfully supervise a nd / or tra in othe r hand lers.Senior Hand ler- (Classes C1,P1 inc ludes lions and tige rs) - A Sen ior Handle r (C1/ P1) is

a p erson who has b een ac tive in the field of anima l tra ining a nd c ond itioning,

husband ry, and the d ay to da y ma nag ement o f a spec ies or a va riety of spe c ies of the

C1/P1 list fo r at least five of the la st seven yea rs. A Senior Hand ler (C1/ P1) will have

demonstra ble knowledg e a nd skill in the currently ac ce p ted p rofessiona l standards a ndtec hniques in animal tra ining a nd ha ndling a nd w ill have extensive know led ge of the

husband ry and be haviour of the spe c ies being hand led.Pub lic Enc ounters Public e nc ounte rs w ith zoo animals outside of the anima ls enc losure

(conta inme nt a rea ), or outside the conta inment fac ility (zoo), must hav e p rior approval

by Biosec urity New Zea land for:

The fac ilities (inc luding tem pora ry fac ilities); and

The sta ff sup ervising a nd ha ndling the animals.

Unless c ove red by sep ara te d oc umenta tion, deta ils on a ll public enc ounters (inc lud ing

those tha t ta ke plac e w ithin the a nima ls enc losure) must be included in the zoomanua l. This should includ e info rma tion on how any inc rea sed risks to sta ff or v isitors or

of a c ontainment breac h are to be ma naged .


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Public Encounters with Ca tego ry C1 or P1 (inc ludes lions and tigers) anima ls, on or off-Site, inside or outside the a nima ls enc losure All public encounters with zoo animals in

c a tego ry C1/P1 (lions and tigers) must be physica lly supervised b y an ac c red ited Senior

Hand ler (C1/P1) rega rdless o f whe re the enc ounters oc c ur. All animals invo lved in the

demonstra tion m ust be ha nd led b y an a c c red ited Senior Handler (C1/ P1). If more tha n

one anima l is being d emonstra ted simultaneously (i.e. where c onta c t with the p ublic is

possible), the other animal(s) must b e hand led by another acc red ited Senior Handler(C1/P1) i.e. no senior hand ler ca n hand le m ore than one animal simultaneously.

Animal Handler Accreditation

The Zoo op erator is responsible fo r acc rediting a nima l hand lers a nd ensuring tha t the

handlers me et the req uirem ents se t out below.

A rec ord of a ll ac c red ited handlers w ith their expe rienc e a nd q ualifica tions must beheld and a va ilable for inspec tion.

If a Zoo op era tor wishes to a c c red it som eone w ho d oes not m ee t the fo llow ing c riteria

the zoo op erato r must apply to MAFBNZ and p rov id e suffic ient ev idenc e to the M AFBNZInspector that this person is competent to fulfil the handler role that they are being

acc red ited as. The M AFBNZ Inspe c tor must give written a pproval of eq uiva lent hand lerstatus p rior to tha t p erson being in the p osition of a handler.

1. Senior Handler- (Classes C1,P1) - A Sen ior Handler (C1/P1 lions a nd tigers) is aperson w ho has been ac tive in the field of a nima l tra ining a nd c ond itioning, husbandry,

and the da y to d ay ma nag ement of a spec ies or a va riety of C1/ P1 spec ies for at least

five of the la st seven yea rs. A Senior Handler (C1/P1) must ha ve dem onstrab leknowledge and skill in the c urrently ac c ep ted p rofessional standard s and tec hniques in

animal tra ining a nd ha nd ling a nd w ill have extensive knowledg e o f the husbandry and

behaviour of the spec ies be ing ha ndled .None o f the keepe rs currently a t Zion Park ha s

this experience .

These standa rds may be in d ra ft form but as a highly pa id consulta nt, and ex-d irec tor of

Auc kland Zoo , Mr. Holland is fully up to da te w ith zoo standa rds and reg ula tions and

would know of their existenc e.

These sa fegua rds whic h are designe d to p rotec t staff a nd p ublic a re b eing woefullyneglec ted . Hea lth and safety at the p ark ap pea rs to b e trea ted with complete

d isrega rd and you a re now , offic ia lly, awa re o f that fa c t. I urge you to ta ke imm ediate

ac tion to remedy this before som eone g ets bad ly hurt or killed .

I c onfess to b eing v ery worried tha t m y conc erns w ill be d ism issed bec ause o f the

ongoing lega l ac tion b etwee n my m other and I, and have thought hard b efore

b ringing this to your notice. In truth my co nsc ienc e w ould not a llow me to ignore w ha t I

now know to b e ha pp ening a nd I could never forgive m yself if I d id not d o so a nd a

serious injury or dea th oc c urred.


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In orde r to red uce the risk of this to a m inimum to urs should be stop ped imm ed ia tely.

They should rema in suspend ed until an a pp rop ria tely experienced a nd q ualified

handler is found to e nable them to go a hea d sa fely. These tours hav e only beensanc tioned on the sa y so o f Rac helle Linwoo d o f MAF. Im sure tha t she is a d iligent

and professiona l operative, but she ha s a bsolutely no know ledg e of b ig c a ts. Is it rea lly

app ropriate to a sk her to ma ke this judg me nt c all without the b enefit of expe rt advice?

And is the M inistry p repa red to ta ke responsibility for the conseq uenc es when he r

uninformed op inion p roves to be wrong?

In the interests of sta ff and pub lic sa fety, I a m p repa red to m ake m yself ava ilable to

give help and a dvice if that w ill p rove useful to you, and to a nswer any questions you

may have.

My concern is so grea t tha t I rea lly must insist tha t som e a c tion is taken. Befo re takingthe m a tter further I rea lly wa nted to g ive you a cha nce to a ddress these issues a nd it is

for this reason tha t I write to yo u.

I make this information known to you und er the a usp ices of the Protec ted Disc losure

Act 2000 but do not hav e a n ob jec tion to you ma king m y id entity known to a ny person

d irec tly invo lved in this matte r.

I would b e g ra teful if I you would a cknow ledge receipt of this letter.

Yours sinc erely

Craig Busch

Cc Depa rtme nt of Lab our OSH

Documents

Letter to MAF/DOL March 2009