ANIMAL
DEFENDERS
OFFICE
Team ADO hit the ground running in 2024
TEAM ADO entered in all events in the
Canberra Times Marathon Festival
on Sunday 7 April 2024
Our runners got active with
like-minded advocates
Mens sana in corpore sano
("a healthy mind in a healthy body")
On Sunday 7 April 2024 Team ADO took part in the Canberra Times Marathon Festival in the nation's Capital, our ninth annual fun run since our centre began.
Our athletes entered in the 10km and 5.4km!
Thank you to the inspirational people who donned a Team ADO singlet, set themselves a challenge, and met it!
#RunSweatInspireChallenge
Team ADO disappointed at use of petting zoo at 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run
We were very disappointed to see a petting zoo as part of the so-called ‘family entertainment’ at the 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run.
There are significant animal welfare concerns associated with petting zoos, which confine very young and vulnerable animals in small areas for human‑animal interactions.
The ADO sent a letter to the race organisers setting out our concerns. You can find our letter here.
Three-week-old baby goat at the 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run
In their response, race organisers politely dismissed our concerns.
In January 2018 we drew the organisers' attention to the decision by the University of Canberra not to use petting zoos at its student events due to animal welfare concerns. The University's decision was fully supported by RSPCA ACT.
Read about the University of Canberra's decision as (ironically) reported in the Canberra Times here.
In our latest communication we urged race organisers to consider forms of entertainment that do not cause distress to animals by being ‘touched, handled and loomed over by many people at once’ (quoting RSPCA ACT).
As far as we are aware, the Australian Running Festival does not use petting zoos at its events.
