By Debbie Rose
Onondaga County Executive, Ryan McMahon, is using 85 million in Covid relief funds to build an aquarium! While the construction of this project will cost closer to 100 million, the County Executive is asking for private donors. If they are not able to obtain the difference from private donors, it’s likely the taxpayers will foot that bill! Covid relief money was for the health of the citizens of Onondaga ...shouldn't it be used for that purpose?
Syracuse, NY is known for being a poverty-stricken city! Driving around, you will see destitute people standing on street corners holding signs asking for help. There are people sleeping under bridges in makeshift tents, other poor souls are living in remote areas. I was in a restaurant not so long ago and was shocked when someone came up to the table asking for food!
Recently, a homeless person was found dead in a city creek. Another jumped from a bridge.
Does Syracuse, NY, really need an aquarium that would only add animal suffering? If the Covid relief funds are not used for that purpose, then certainly Syracuse needs more mental health
services and qualified professionals to prevent these tragic events.
There is a constant stream of shootings and knifings by teenagers in addition to car and house theft. Why not spend some of that money on more youth programs? How about places for kids to go that are inexpensive with fun things to do that are safe? Why not do that and create jobs? An aquarium will not create an abundance of jobs.
The local news has been reporting that a majority of pipes in the city of Syracuse contain lead, there’s lead in the drinking water! Sewage is being dumped into Onondaga Lake! The aquarium is being built on an inlet from Onondaga Lake! So, not only are the people being exposed to this lead and sewage, but this proposal will uproot saltwater mammals, and put them in a tank laden with lead ad chlorine!
Aquariums are bad news: The Seaquest Aquarium in Woodbridge, NJ, is receiving increasing pressure to shut down after only 5 years of being open as 100 animals have died! What a waste of millions of dollars to start a project like this when the city of Syracuse has the money to improve the lives of its citizens rather than giving a dismal life to aquatic animals.
The best thing for this project would be to put a stop to it now; use the remaining funds for the people of Syracuse, NY! An aquarium is an antiquated, useless use of funding especially when that funding was meant to originally be used for people who are greatly in need of help.
TAKE ACTION: Contact members of the Syracuse Common Council. syr.gov/Departments/Common-Council/Councilors
Debbie Rose is an honorary member of People for Animal Rights (PAR). She is the tabling coordinator and distributes their newsletters.
An Orca named Kshamenk, pronounced Shamenk, will be released after being in captivity in an aquarium since 1992:
Read about it here: Animal rights group calls for release of Argentina's last captive orca
News item sent by Taffy Williams of NY4whales ny4whales.org