Campaigners to protest outside Dublin Zoo about animal welfare concerns

Animal rights campaigners will hold a protest outside Dublin Zoo on Saturday calling for an independent investigation into concerns about animal welfare.

Two protected disclosures have been made by whistleblowers, alleging animal welfare concerns among other issues at the charity.

Dublin Zoo has strongly rejected all claims, and a special investigation by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) last month cleared the zoo of any wrongdoing. Following a “comprehensive and rigorous investigation”, the NPWS deemed all but one of the allegations were “unfounded”.

Concerns have been raised by Paul Murphy TD in the Dáil, who has called for an "independent investigation" at the zoo.

A multi-group protest, involving several animal rights organisations, will be held at the zoo from 12pm to 2pm this Saturday, August 10. Laura Broxson, a spokesperson for the National Animal Rights Association (NARA), said there are several issues they want clarified.

“The investigations at Dublin Zoo, to date, were all carried out by the NPWS who licences the zoo,” she said. “That is not independent”.

“We are involved with the groups, Stand for Badgers, Animal Rebellion Ireland, and Sentients Rights Ireland. We also have the support of the group, Freedom for Animals.

“There needs to be full transparency in relation to animal welfare." 

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The group is calling for postmortems on deceased animals to be published. “We also want full publication of the zoo’s financial accounts in detail," she said.

The NPWS report in July investigated 17 allegations by a whistleblower, dating from 2004 to 2022.

The one case that was “partially supported” by evidence pertained to an incident from 2004 involving a California sea lion, Kipper, who died from dystocia.

It was acknowledged that while earlier intervention could have been beneficial, the actions taken at the time were consistent with the knowledge and facilities available then.

According to the investigation, Dublin Zoo has since resolved the issue through changes in process, facility, or management.