Landmark Boston zoo may be forced to close, animals to be killed

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, facing tough budgeting decisions, may close the Franklin Park Zoo and euthanize as many as 20 percent of the animals.

The Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston landmark for generations, may become a tragic example of state budgeting woes in the wake of the brutal recession gripping the world. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is considering closing the zoo and euthanizing up to a fifth of its animals. Without more funding zoo officials say the zoo will have to close by October. "The zoo officials, in a written statement that echoed a letter sent earlier to legislative leaders, said they would be unlikely to find homes for at least 20 percent of the animals, 'requiring either destroying them, or the care of the animals in perpetuity,'” The Boston Globe reported. The Franklin Park Zoo is the largest zoo in New England, attracting nearly 570,000 visitors last year. The decision to cut the zoo's funding resided squarely with the governor, vetoing a budget allocated prior by the Massachusetts legislative body. "The Legislature had originally provided $6.5 million to the zoos – which accounts for more than half of their budget – but Patrick, using a line-item veto, cut the state funding to $2.5 million," according to The Boston Globe. “These are extremely difficult times across the state, and there have been tough cuts in every area,” a Patrick spokeswoman, Cyndi Roy, said in a statement and reported in The Boston Globe. “This is an example of an unfortunate cut that had to be made in order to preserve core services for families struggling during the economic downturn.” The Franklin Park Zoo was founded in 1913. “They just can’t make the math work,” Representative Elizabeth A. Malia, a Democrat from Jamaica Plain, told The Boston Globe. “It’s very upsetting. It would be a horrible, horrible loss for the community.”