The International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos was a huge success. Supporters took over the three overpasses adjacent to Woodland Park Zoo. Six banners brought awareness of the suffering of Bamboo, Chai and Watoto as thousands of drivers drove by – many of them honking in support! Please join us the next time we do this.
International Day of Action for Elephants
The Ballard News-Tribune this week reported on an appeal filed by concerned citizens and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, after their lawsuit against the zoo and the City of Seattle was dismissed on a technicality. Here is an excerpt:
Today, concerned citizens represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund are filing an appeal in the Washington State Court of Appeals in their lawsuit against the City of Seattle and Woodland Park Zoo. The Animal Legal Defense Fund intends to stop the City’s unlawful use of taxpayer dollars to support the Woodland Park Zoo’s treatment of elephants in violation of Washington State and Seattle animal cruelty laws.
On May 27, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey dismissed the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s lawsuit against the City of Seattle and Woodland Zoo citing a technicality.
The lawsuit, filed in June 2010, by plaintiffs Mary Sebek and Nancy Farnam, accused the City of Seattle of acting illegally in providing support for the Woodland Park Zoo and its ill treatment of elephants.
Seattle, WA – On the 4th anniversary of Hansa’s death from the deadly herpesvirus, Chai, the Asian elephant at Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) was artificially inseminated (AI) for the 61st time. Six year old Hansa, Chai’s daughter, died of the deadly herpesvirus.
WPZ is a herpes-infected environment. WPZ’s records for Watoto dated May 5, 2008 state Watoto tested “positive for EEHV3a virus in her blood.”
Dr. Jennifer Conrad, DVM, an expert elephant veterinarian said: “Woodland Park Zoo is a herpes exposed facility and therefore the zoo should no longer engage in an Asian elephant breeding program. The simple truth is the risk of death for the offspring is too great.”
There is no cure for EEHV and WPZ has no infection control in place. Chai could pass the herpesvirus to her own fetus.
Elephant herpesvirus attacks the internal organs causing massive hemorrhaging and a painful, gruesome death. “To even take a chance of causing another defenseless calf such a horrific death is unconscionable and unethical” says Nancy Pennington, co-founder of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants.
WPZ enjoyed a huge spike in attendance and revenue when Hansa was born.
Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants will join IDA (In Defense of Animals) for the International Day of Action for Zoo Elephants to expose the plight of elephants suffering in zoos worldwide.
This year we will “take over” the three Highway 99 overpasses by Woodland Park Zoo. We will be a live billboard for the elephants!
Where: Picnic Shelter #4 in Lower Woodland Park.
Across the street from the Green Lake Aquatic Center on Greenlake Way N, you will see a Seattle Parks Dept. sign for the off leash dog park, tennis courts, and picnic shelters. Go up that (unnamed) road to the parking area for Shelter #4. See maps: Demo street map | Demo location map
Date: Saturday, June 11, 2011
Time: Noon to 2pm
In Seattle, Bamboo, Chai and Watoto, spend 16 – 17 hours a day locked in a tiny barn stall – the human equivalent of about a 4’ x 4’ cell. This lock-up lasts about 7 months each year with one of the elephants being in solitary confinement. Outdoors they are caged in less than 1 acre. This confinement and traumas throughout their lives have caused serious captivity-induced ailments and psychological distress.
“Teaching our children that suffering is entertainment is just plain wrong,” says Nancy Pennington, co-founder of FOWPZE “getting our elephants to the 2,700 acre Elephant would be such a valuable lesson in compassion and selflessness”.
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