Calgary Zoo aims to boost animal welfare, ethics with new committee

The Calgary Zoo is creating a new committee in a bid to stay on the cutting edge of ethical animal welfare and research practices, officials say.

The newWelfare, Ethics and Research Committee will amalgamate two existing committees on animal welfare and biological research, while adding a broader ethics component bolstered by outside experts, the zoo said in a release on Thursday.

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"While we are very proud that we are recognized leaders internationally, we recognize the science of animal welfare is continually changing so we must always be adapting," said Dr. Clment Lanthier, president and CEO of the Calgary Zoo in the release.

"We aren't content to simply meet existing standards; our goal is to constantly raise the bar."

Over the last four years, the zoo's animal care management and welfare protocols have been revised "and are recognized as among the most comprehensive in the world," the release said.

The new committee will include six members of the zoo's animal care, research and education departments plus:

• Joy Ripley, a former president of the Alberta S.P.C.A.
• Bill Fisher, a former Parks Canada vice president.
• Dr. Michael Quinn, associate vice president of research, scholarship and community engagement at Mount Royal University.
• Dr. Terry Hunt, a current Calgary Zoo board of trustees member and member of the University of Calgary's faculty of veterinary medicine.