“A beloved Rio Grande Zoo giraffe was dismembered and placed in a trash bin following its death…”
AP via Huffington Post
The giraffe, Kashka, had suffered a debilitating leg injury after a recent fall. Zoo officials said attempts to treat her condition would not likely be successful, so veterinarians decided last week to euthanize the 16-year-old giraffe that stood 15 feet tall and weighed about 2,000 pounds.
A necropsy of the animal showed that in addition to ligament damage in her left rear knee, Kashka was in the initial stages of peracute mortality syndrome, a wasting disease that is common and usually fatal in giraffes but not well understood.
Kashka was born at the Miami Metro Zoo on Jan. 3, 1994. She arrived at the Rio Grande Zoo later that year and went on to have six calves over the years.
. . .
Instead of following protocol and taking the giraffe to the landfill, a zoo worker put the dismembered giraffe carcass in a bin near the zoo last Thursday. A garbage truck driver spotted the remains the next day and reported it to his supervisor.
I have reason to take this loss personally, even beyond the horrid and thoughtless disposal. I can’t be certain, but I’m thinking that Kashka is our own Momma giraffe.