Today I took Yuki to the vet for her vaccination. I always take her to the Nomura Veterinary Clinic in Nakano because this doctor is especialized in exotic pets. Not just ferrets, but all kind of animals that other doctors wouldn’t even dare to touch. Almost everybody in Tokyo who owns a ferret brings his to this clinic.

As an example, one day I saw a man come to Dr. Nomura with his 5-6 marmosets on his back . Click to enlarge.

Dr. Nomura’s clinic is a bit far from home, so I can’t just take Yuki and bring her there. I have to put her in her carrier cage and either take the train (inconvenient) or a taxi. We took a taxi today.

Yuki relaxing in her carrier on the taxi to the vet.

Every time you take your pet to Dr. Nomura he does a checkup to check that your little furry (or scaly, if you’re bringing a snake) is healthy. Usually there are no problems and your pet gets a vaccine or some other medication, and then you pay and go home.

Today it was a bit different…

Yesterday (February 9th 2014), the Copenhagen Zoo murdered Marius, a 18-month giraffe baby by shooting him in the head. They then proceeded to dismember his corpse in front of the zoo visitors and feed the corpse to the lions.

Social networks and news sites are all echoing this crime. Just a few examples:

• ABC.es (Spanish newspaper): El zoo de Copenhagen sacrifica a una jirafa sana pese a una intensa campaña online (The Copenhagen zoo kills a healthy giraffe in opposition to a heated online campaign)
• The Independent: Danish zoo to kill ‘surplus’ young giraffe and feed him to the lions
• BBC News Europe: ‘Surplus’ giraffe put down at Copenhagen Zoo
• The Guardian: Copenhagen zoo sparks outrage by killing healthy giraffe named Marius
• TIME: Did Marius the Giraffe Have to Die?
• The Mirror: Zoo bosses who approved killing of  Marius the giraffe should be sacked say campaigners

There was nothing wrong with Marius. He was a completely healthy animal. However, Bengt Holst, Director of Research and Conservation at Copenhagen Zoo, decided that Marius wasn’t genetically valuable enough. Other zoos offered to adopt Marius, but Holst declined the offers and decided that it would be a better show to kill the baby giraffe and carve the corpse in front of the public.

This is a photo of this fucking son of a bitch (it’s the dude on the left, the elephant is innocent):

In my opinion, this bastard, together with all the staff involved in the killing, should be immediately fired, forbidden to ever work with animals again, and put on trial for cruelty against animals. Under his direction, the Copenhagen Zoo sacrifices 20-30 animals per year.

There are several petitions online to get Holst fired or force him to resign. Here are two of them:

• Petition at Change.org for the resignation of Bengt Holst
• Petition at thepetitionsite.com to have him fired

You should sign these, but you know how these things work: online petitions will most likely be ignored. Please share this in all your social networks. It may also be effective to write a letter directly to the Copenhagen Zoo and express your feelings about this killing. Here’s the address:

WARNING: what follows are the photos of the killing and dismembering process. There are lots of blood, so don’t read the rest of the post if you’re sensitive to this stuff.

I just wanted to share a few photos of my two ferrets that were lurking inside my iPhone. Yuki (female, 2 years old) is the white one. Kuro (male, 3 years old) is the darker one.

Enjoy.

Kuro and Yuki sleeping together in their hammock. Notice Kuro’s “WTF?” face.

More photos after the pause.