Fishers resident says city’s Parks & Rec should not partner with Silly Safaris

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Dear Editor:

I was disappointed to learn that Fishers Parks and Recreation is once again partnering with Silly Safaris for this year’s Boo Bash event. The exhibit, which promises “creepy crawlers” and other animals as part of the entertainment lineup, raises serious concerns about animal welfare, public safety, and the message these displays send to children and families in our community.

Silly Safaris states that its mission is to create positive human-animal interactions that inspire responsible pet ownership and wildlife conservation. Yet traveling animal exhibitions do little to teach audiences about animals’ natural behaviors, habitats, or conservation needs. Instead, they rely on confining stressed wild animals, carting them from event to event, and subjecting them to repeated handling, loud crowds, and unfamiliar environments for human entertainment.

That’s not education, it’s exploitation.

Exhibits that encourage close contact with wild animals not only create unnecessary safety risks by placing stressed animals in close proximity to children and families; they also perpetuate the false and harmful idea that wild animals can be handled, displayed, and treated like pets for our enjoyment.

Fishers’ continued partnership with Silly Safaris is especially troubling given the company’s documented history of animal welfare concerns. U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors have previously cited the organization for Animal Welfare Act violations involving veterinary care for multiple animals, including a reindeer whose halter had become embedded in the animal’s nose, causing bleeding and pain; a deer left for months with a mass hanging from the side of his head; and a rabbit suffering from eye discharge that had not been properly addressed. Inspectors also cited the facility using a carbon dioxide chamber to kill animals. These citations should give Fishers officials pause before continuing to partner with this exhibitor for community events.

Fishers has partnered with Silly Safaris repeatedly, from Boo Bash to holiday attractions featuring reindeer. Rather than continuing to rely on traveling wild animal displays, the city should pursue genuinely educational alternatives that teach respect for animals in the natural world. Families deserve programming that fosters curiosity about wildlife without exploiting animals in the process.

Fishers can, and should, do better.

Samantha Chapman
Fishers