Four Paws, an international animal welfare organisation have said their attempts to rescue three lions from atrocious conditions in Albania have been blocked by authorities.
The three lison- Bobby, Lenci, and Zhaku were rescued from the Safari Park Zoo, located in Fier, before being temporarily housed at Tirana Zoo in October. Now, Four Paws wants to move the lions to a specialist facility in the Netherlands but have been stopped by the government.
Apparently the lions are not allowed to be moved due to an ongoing lawsuit for damage to property that was initiated by the animals former owner. Four Paws rebuffed the governments claim, stating that they did not accept this reasoning.
“The lions play no part in the lawsuit and Four Paws had been allowed to transfer a bear, rescued during the same mission and also temporarily placed at Tirana Zoo, to Germany at the beginning of April,” the NGO said in a statement.
The organisation stated that they had come to an agreement with the Albanian Ministry of Environment and Tourism to transfer the animals. They added that the animals are not in suitable conditions at the moment and they require urgent medical care and attention.
Director of Four Paws, Ioana Dungler commented: “It is inexplicable to us why we cannot relocate Lenci, Bobby and Zhaku. The Albanian authorities cite a court case as the reason, but we know that the lions are not a subject of this case. The animals have nothing to do with it. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to bring bear Dushi, who we also temporarily accommodated at Tirana Zoo, to our bear sanctuary in Germany.”
A total of 10 animals were rescued from the Safari Park Zoo last October and most of the animals were brought to Tirana Zoo where they received veterinary care.
It is unclear why the authorities are refusing to hand over the lions, despite the previous agreement and the fact that a bear was released just a few weeks ago. Four Paws have added that not only do the lions need medical care, but that the enclosure they are in is not suitable for their long term residence.
Albania does not currently have any laws against animal cruelty, nor any that ensure basic living and health standards for any kind of animal living in captivity.
These lions need to be released- please send an email to the Ministry here, Tweet them here, and leave a Facebook comment here.
Sample text:
I am writing to you to request the release of the three lions, Bobby, Lenci and Zhaku to the Four Paws organisation. These animals need urgent medical care and to be in a specialist environment that is suitable for their health. Please release them.
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