Edinburgh Zoo, the largest zoo in Scotland, received numerous animal welfare and safety citations during inspections dating back at least five years. Recently, when Edinburgh City Council's community safety department conducted a follow-up inspection, they discovered that the zoo failed to address the issues previously raised.

The issues ranged from the big cat enclosure in a state of disrepair to a vermin-infested food storage area. The zoo has been given a short timetable to fix the problems.

Meanwhile, though, the zoo made a deal -- rumored to be worth millions of pounds - to bring a pair of breeding pandas to their facility. It's irresponsible of the zoo's management to broker this deal while the animals currently in their care suffer from a series of welfare and safety issues.

Edinburgh Zoo needs to clean up their mess and take responsibility for the animals already in their care.

Photo credit: mozzercork