A 1-year-old goat died on Sunday when someone threw a plastic bag with food over the fence of Dierenweide Maarsveld in Stadskanaal. When will it ever end, asks zookeeper Franciska Vley?
It is warm for this time of year. A herd of deer lies in the shade, tails wagging in the grass as children walk by. A calf looks up curiously, perhaps expecting food. Further along walk emus, sheep and goats. It seems peaceful and idyllic, but zookeeper Franciska Vley (41) is still in a bad mood.
Last Sunday she was called because there were bags of feed in the meadow. When Vley took a closer look, it turned out that the youngest goat in the meadow had feasted on it and had also eaten pieces of plastic. There were also pre-cooked beets from the supermarket in the meadow, the plastic still on them. Vley finds it incomprehensible that animals are treated so carelessly. “I found him foaming at the mouth. He had been dead for some time. There was nothing more I could do,” she says. “I am very angry and sad.”
Because despite the fact that there are ‘do not feed’ signs around the animal pasture, people regularly throw all kinds of things over the fences. This time with a fatal outcome. “Frikandellen, spaghetti, pruning waste, bread; You name it.” It must all be well-intentioned, says Vley and then angrily: “or maybe it’s also laziness, like: then I’ll get rid of my waste.”
Edge edge several times
But left or right: additional feeding is not the intention. It is not healthy for the animals, they can become seriously ill. It usually ends in a fizzle, but it is never fun. “Before the summer, animals were also sick. And last year it happened twice, when I had to be in the animal pasture day and night to take care of poisoned animals.” It is then a matter of letting them drink a lot, giving them a lot of hay and, if necessary, administering it. of medication or have the vet come.
“People apparently think: ‘a little bread, that’s possible’. But if many people give a little, they will still receive a lot.” Animals such as sheep and goats can suffer from rumen acidosis. It is also not necessary to feed them additionally, she emphasizes: “the animals are well cared for and get enough to eat.”
The goat’s mother is still there, she is also upset, Vley sees. She whines a lot. The goat was just one year old. He and his mother were inseparable. “The mother was very proud of the goat. Sometimes she even gave milk. This simply could have been prevented. I know that this is not only the case with us, but also with other animal pastures. No matter how much you like it, don’t feed the animals.”
Chickens over the fence
In addition to a lot of food waste, some people also dump live animals in the meadow, such as chickens. Sometimes there are one or two, but this summer a whole flock of chickens was moved over the fence. That is also not the intention, he says Franciska Vley. Due to the bird flu, which lasted for an exceptionally long time, the animal pasture has not had any poultry for some time. ‘
And even if they did have it: “Then we don’t want that either. We don’t know whether those chickens carry diseases. If they did have something, they could light the other chickens.”