My Farm

My Farm
this is a picture of the view I wake up to every morning.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Wednesday was a perfect day. In fact, all my days have been perfect lately. Maybe there really IS karma! I woke up, went to town, came home, had a riding lesson on Khemo, who was a big sweet dream horse, met up with the hubby, drove to the Edmonton Airport and picked up my new Galah aka Rose Breasted Cockatoo!!

She is SO beautiful, cuddly, outgoing, and very loving. She was another lucky break. I got a $2500 bird for the cost to ship her here, $99.00. She was hand raised, just couldn't be sold, and luckily word of mouth that I have been looking for a rescued or surrendered parrot got out there! Now Sage, my Timneh African Grey parrot has a new friend, I named her Holly Golightly. She LOVES chin scratches, and to have her crest preened. It is hard to believe that these parrots in Australia are akin to pigeons here in North America. They have the most amazing coloring, pink and grey! ANd not to say that I have anything against pigeons, I adore them, but that is what people compare them to.

So Guzoo is closed, I bought a TON of new rare trees and plants, I got my new baby bird, I guess the only crappy thing is the rain is back for until tomorrow, but I can roll with that!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Guzoo is finally CLOSED!

It has been a LONG time since I last wrote, I am not too concerned, because I don't have or try to get any followers, this a just a diary of sorts. A journal of my personal milestones, wisdom, and the betterment of myself in such areas as controlling my PTSD, in my animal rescue, in my advocacy of animal welfare, and other important issues in my life.

As of late I have been working as a member of Concerned Albertans for Animal Welfare and Public Safety (caawps.com) to shut down Guzoo for 4 years now. I knew that problems have existed at Guzoo for YEARS, but have recently been donating my time and money to help fund and work on the CAAWPS campaign to get Guzoo investigated, as well as many other members too.

Well, we DID IT! The Ministry of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development did a 60 day investigation of Guzoo, contracted a third party (CAZA- Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums) to interpret the AZS and investigate Guzoo using these standards and not their own.

Unsurprisingly, they issued their finding, saying it would be IMPOSSIBLE for Guzoo to become compliant to Alberta Zoo Standards due to the ENTIRE facility, the operation, enclosures and the inability to stop the spread of diseases. To say that MY pictures, observations, interpretations of the Alberta Zoo Standards and opinion have been vindicated seems to soft to me. We were proven to be 100% right, Guzoo is beyond repair, close the doors and stop this inhumane treatment of animals.

Every February, since 2007, I have made 2 trips per year, a month apart, to take photos and document the Alberta Zoo Violations and Animal Protection Act or, to photograph any improvements the zoo has made. I have NEVER witnessed any upgrades before the media published Nic Burgess's, mine, and other CAAWPS members photographs also prove the conditions. As for Nic Burgess's photographs being manipulated is just a complete lie. Lynn Gustafson admitted the photographs by Nic Burgess of the bleeding goat were authentic, he just tried to justify giving no vet treatment to his animals.

Many animal rights groups have tried getting the government to listen, but to no avail. CAAWPS was able to attract everyday people due to our varied membership and simple agenda. This is about animal welfare and public safety, and due to our 14,000 FB members and over 33,000 people signing our petition, we made sure the government could not ignore this issue anymore.