Thank you to those of you that stood with us today – in spirit and in physical form! We ask you to join us again to demonstrate our demands for an independent board Thursday, March 21 at 10:30AM on Rawhide Trail.

We have some exciting news to announce -
1. Our website shares an informational timeline that provides the WHOLE truth that we will continue adding to as more and more staff feel comfortable coming forward: RescueAustinZoo.org

2.  Armed guards hovered around the Zoo’s entrance today. We maintained our protest peacefully off private property. We respect the boundaries of the Austin Zoo.

3. We plan to publish a transparent statement that starts from Austin Zoo’s misleading half-truths listed at AustinZoo.org/wecare/

4. Please join us at 10:30AM on Thursday, March 21 on Rawhide Trail to show your support of the petition’s request for checks and balances. https://www.facebook.com/events/2342264472507914/

Dear Austin Zoo,

While we appreciate your shifting of titles, we do not trust you. Staff, once again, learned of Patti Clark stepping down as President of the Board via a public email or via press. No questions can be asked. Not to mention, we believe you twisted the truth to give the impression of Patti Clark not being on the board. Instead, she is simply not a voting member. (Please, tell us we are wrong here.) Patti Clark’s close friends have the majority vote on the board, and she will be in attendance for all meetings in their entirety. (Again, please prove us wrong here.) Will each department head be in attendance to share? Will the board go to executive sessions without Patti? Will those proceedings not be forwarded to Patti Clark after the fact? Is Patti Clark still the President of the parent non-profit of Austin Zoo – Austin Zoological Society?

How long is your average tenure of employment? Volunteering? Will you be transparent about this because we know the truth, and the truth speaks volumes.

Will you share the new (and prior) board member qualifications and their connections to Patti? Again, we know the truth here. Will you share it with the community?

What happens after this summer when Bernie Tejada’s time is served as interim chair? What happens when the community quits watching you? We are striving for sustainability for the little zoo we love so much.

You claim our petition and protest is “disgruntled employees”. Even if that were true, how do you have 30+ disgruntled employees? How does that not make you question your procedures and operations?

Finally, you claim to be transparent with the staff and visitors of Austin Zoo. Can you truly say that after reading this? Transparent does not mean providing vague afterthought statements without any proof to back it up. It does not mean sharing important information with your staff through your Constant Contact emails to your donors and members without allowing them a free environment to ask you questions. Transparency is not misleading half-truths. Please, for the animals, the staff and the community of Austin, do better.