Tehuacan Private Zoo

Sergio Gomez, a conservative congressman for the Congress for the National Action Party in Mexico possessed a private zoo filled with 240 rare, and extremely cramped animals. The Tehuacan zoo was receiving complaints at the conditions the animals were living in and the safety of the guests. The animals were crammed into small cages that were vastly out of proportion with their needs. The Mexican government has already banned animals in circuses and recently passed a series of new laws regarding the treatment and rights of animals.

Photo from BBC

Due to the obvious violation of Gomez's zoo, officials took action; raiding the zoo and rescuing over 100 of the 240 held captive. Among those rescued were animals like tigers, lions, buffaloes, monkeys, crocodiles, pumas, bears, and jaguars. The animals had been held in cages stacked precariously on top of one another, causing them to be irritable as well as to experience serious psychological stress. (This set up also put the guests attending the zoo in danger) It is a good sign that even government officials cannot get away with animal cruelty in Mexico and I believe events like this don't get enough coverage. If other governments were to see how seriously the animal ethics laws are taken in other countries, maybe they would follow the example and mandate higher standards for the treatment of non-humans. I am proud of Mexico for standing by their legislation and acting on such a valuable cause.

To read the whole BBC article, click here