‘After the first dozen animals had disappeared, my suspicions were aroused,’ said the Director of the Cologne municipal Zoological Gardens, thus proving how au fait he was with the situation.
‘We investigated the zoo keeper. By that time he had disposed of one lion, a bison, several sheep and five mountain chickens. There were several goats unaccounted for.
He was dismissed for gross misconduct but he successfully appealed.
That’s German labour laws for you.
‘We agreed to pay him six months pay in lieu of notice, but he still wanted to come to work.
We couldn’t afford it. We have several endangered species here.’
I thought this last comment rather superfluous.
But he meant they were endangered in the wild too.
‘We paid him and asked him not to return to work. But he is perfectly entitled to do, if he wishes.’