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By Lookout Staff
June 22 -- Calling it a health, public safety and
moral issue, half a dozen students from Crossroads School
asked the City Council Tuesday to crack down on animal acts
on the Third Street Promenade.
The students said they were appalled by the “psychic
cats” they said often sit for hours without moving and
the capuchin monkey in coat and hat that grabs dollar bills
from the hands of passersby.
“Animals also feel fear, feel elation and feel pain,”
said Julian Isaacs, a 17-year-old senior at Crossroads who
led the student protest. “They deserve to be treated
like living creatures, not as objects for sale or display.
“It’s sending the horrible message that Santa
Monica sanctions the mistreatment of living creatures,”
Isaacs said.
Several of the students questioned how cats, who are usually
frisky, evasive animals, can sit still for hours unless they
are drugged or ill.
“When I see the psychic cats on the Promenade, it brings
up suspicions as to how they can sit still for hours on end,”
said Courtney Tanaguchi, 18, an incoming senior who said she
grew up around cats.
Micki Isaacs, who will be a sophomore next year, will no
longer visit the Promenade to avoid seeing “the pained
faces of these animals.
“The presence of these animals makes the Promenade
unwelcoming, uninviting,” Isaacs said. “The spirit
of the Promenade is darkened by them, so I go to different
malls.”
Bijou Carmen, a sophomore, said she cries when she sees the
animals.
“Seeing the monkey has had a deep emotional effect
on me,” Carmen said. “I’ve walked past that
sick spectacle two time, and both times my eyes filled with
tears.”
Melya Kaplan, student advisor and executive director of the
Voice for the Animals Foundation, said the students were “saddened
and angry “ by the spectacle.
"Santa Monica Promenade has positioned itself as a place
for families to come and relax,” Kaplan said in a press
release issued before the meeting. “It is very disturbing
for children who have a natural affinity for animals to see
them treated in such a demeaning way."
Kaplan said that live animal acts --- which are not allowed
on the streets of Los Angeles -- should also be banned on
the streets of Santa Monica.
"We teach our children that animals are to be loved
and cared for, not put on display for profit," Kaplan
said. "The City Council needs to hear from these teens
are who compassionate and passionate about treating animals
with respect and dignity."
After hearing from the students, the council directed staff
to return with information on the condition of the animals
specified and the status of performers.
The council also asked staff to return with recommendations
on possible ordinances.
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