Animal rights organisation appeals to public for
help to stop killings on Robben Island
02-11-2009 Animal Rights Africa
Animal Rights Africa (ARA) is outraged at the illegitimate killing of the deer, rabbits and guinea fowl, which have populated the Island for centuries and form an integral part of its heritage.
ARA has had access to the Robben Island Museum objectionable animal “eradication” plan and we confident there are more pro-active, sustainable and humane solutions to the problems of environmental degradation and these measures will also preserve the heritage of the Island for future generations and tourism purposes.
In this Tuesday, July 1, 2008 file photo, a rabbit sits on Robben Island, South Africa. South African authorities are closing Robben Island for two weeks in November to try to get rid of thousands of rabbits that have overrun the windswept island where Nelson Mandela spent so many years in prison. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
The more humane and compassionate representations and proposals by ARA and others – including a request for a moratorium on the killing- to those who control the Island and the entities advising them, have fallen on deaf ears. We believe that Robben Island management have not been properly advised, have not adequately applied their minds or have not consulted appropriately. We believe the SPCA has also erred in this matter.
ARA has already sought the assistance of the Office of the Public Protector and the National Prosecuting Authority. “We are appealing to the public to assist us as we would like to take legal action to prevent the management of the Robben Island Museum from executing the ill-advised contract they have entered into to kill the animals. This inhumane action and methodology, which has arisen solely as a consequence of the mismanagement of the national and international heritage site, is in contravention of Section 2 of the Animals Protection Act” said ARA spokesperson, Steve Smit.
It is ironic that globally this Island has come to symbolize victory over injustice and symbolism, and Nelson Mandela has said that for him the Island is now “a symbol of the finest qualities of the human spirit, rather than as a monument to the brutal tyranny and oppression of apartheid. It is true that Robben Island was once a place of darkness, but out of that darkness has come a wonderful brightness, a light so powerful that it could not be hidden behind prison walls…” but it seems that the Robben Island Management is determined to desecrate this internationally acclaimed heritage site and once again turn it into a place of oppression, injustice, exploitation, suffering and death.
(Bron: http://www.animalrightsafrica.org/)
(Bron foto: http://newshopper.sulekha.com/topic/robben-island.htm)
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