I am not certain but I think the Netherlands is probably the only democratic country to have a political party dedicated to the rights of animals. Their name (Partij voor de Dieren) sounds to my mind even more ridiculous in English: Party for the Animals. They have at present 5 out of the 150  seats in parliament, 3 out of 75 in the Senate, and 1 out of the 26 seats in the European Parliament.

The party swung into action with a vengeance this week when two of their constituents were murdered in broad daylight!

The crime scene was a zoo. Two chimpanzees had escaped from their enclosure and were roaming around in the area where members of the public were walking around. One of the chimps was 19 years old, but the other was a veteran 53, and had already spent the last 50 years in that particular zoo.

They posed a danger to visitors to the zoo, although they usually only display aggressive behaviour towards others they know well: members of their group but also their keepers. The decision was taken to shoot them down because a tranquiliser would have taken too long to take effect. Such animals can be incredibly mobile and decisions on how to deal with the potential danger needed to be taken quickly. Based on what I have read and heard, shooting them was probably the wisest option.

Of course there will be an inquiry into how and why these chimpanzees were able to escape. Chimps are very intelligent and it can be a daily battle of wits between the keepers and them.

What interests me more is the reaction from the Party for the Animals. They immediately tabled questions in Parliament about this incident. They have renewed their demands for the closure of all zoos, starting with this particular zoo. Amongst other arguments, they stated that the fact that these animals escaped shows that they did not enjoy living in an enclosure.

It does seem sad when several seats in the different political forums are taken up by a party that focuses on animal rights. I do not understand why a cross-party lobby is not employed to deal with this. It would make for a more credible campaign. In Brussels, there is the possibility to set up Working Parties for specific themes which cross national and party lines.

Of course we should take the needs of animals, and the environment in general, into account when taking decisions which have an impact on the natural world around us. I really think that a political party shows a misplaced respect for the Parliamentary machine which already has its hands full representing the needs and rights of all of us.

Zoos in general are not bad thing. There are far-reaching regulations in place these days to ensure the animals are housed appropriately, and a lot of work is done behind the scenes on breeding programmes to support natural communities in the wild. As a child I was taken to the zoo and that was a vital building block in my awareness of the natural world. Seeing elephants and giraffes first hand is far more effective than pictures in an encyclopaedia or, as is possible these days, films on tv and internet.

In a democracy, I am happy that my opinion can be heard alongside those totally opposed to my point of view. We should not be wasting franchise space on political parties formed to champion such issues.

Postscript

Within days of the shooting of the escaped chimpanzees, animal lovers were calling for some kind of memorial plaque to be placed in the zoo where it happened.

The news now is that the zoo is indeed going to do just that!

If we are seriously going to go down that road, we are going to end up surrounded by plaques commemorating the demise of all sorts of animals – often pets, I guess – that met their end in public places.

Whilst we should discharge our duty of care of the animal world, and the natural world in general, to the best of our ability, let us not forget the needs of mankind. There are wars, and millions suffering hunger. When it is our turn to face our Maker, will He be more impressed that we opened our wallets for memorial plaques for animals or that we did what we could to help our fellow man?