As I mentioned in this post about Jenny the elephant, one of the Dallas city council members, Angela Hunt, took a trip to Mexico to see the park in Mexico to which the Dallas Zoo wanted to send Jenny. (She also traveled to Tennessee to see The Elephant Sanctuary.) On her website, AngelaHunt.com, you can read about her experiences and also see the many pictures that she took on her trips.

Along with photos, Ms. Hunt also took videos of the elephants in Mexico. In her videos, the elephants are seen almost constantly swaying back and forth. This is one of her videos:

Soon after this, Robert Wilonsky, who writes at Unfair Park – The Dallas Observer Blog asked Joyce Poole, the world’s foremost authority on elephants, to watch Ms. Hunt’s videos. She is currently working on a study that proves that elephants suffer from PTSD. That is so not surprising – the torment humans have put elephants through over the years is just awful! Here is her response to Robert after seeing the videos:

Dear Robert,

The music is hauntingly beautiful and, put to the swaying of confined elephants, brought tears to my eyes. Why do we humans feel such a need to confine and control other animals? Is our pleasure in seeing them worth the cruelty that we inflict on them? Elephants are intelligent, socially complex individuals who have the same basic needs that we have: Freedom and autonomy, companionship and affection, just to name a few.

The first elephant in the video looks very unhealthy; she is too thin. All of the elephants in the video are swaying — a behavior only seen in confined elephants. Like so many captive elephants they are bored and frustrated with nowhere to go and no one to see, no new smells to investigate and nothing to strive for. The result is standing in one place and rocking, slowly losing their mind. Well, wouldn’t we do the same given similar circumstances?

I often try to put myself in the elephants’ shoes, so to speak. Ever had to stand for hours and hours alone waiting for that bus that never comes? Feet and back aching? I, too, start to step from one foot to the other. I, too, rock back and forth; I sway. But I don’t wait for a bus for days, for weeks, for months, for years. I have the freedom to choose to go.

We need to wake up to the reality of what we are doing to other creatures and stop hiding behind a lot of constructed arguments for keeping elephants in this way.

Jenny should go to a sanctuary.

Regards,
Joyce Poole

And now we see the VERY SAME BEHAVIORS in Jenny! I’m quite sure that after all she has been through in her life, at the hands of humans, Jenny must have PTSD, as well! A member of Concerned Citizens for Jenny went to the zoo just days ago and took this video:

Jenny is definitely not happy there – nor would any elephant be! The elephant ‘habitats’ at The Dallas Zoo have long been a complaint of mine. I’ve taken great joy in mocking the boardroom meeting I imagine in my head 30-40 years ago/whenever the heck it was! I imagine it was something like this:

“You guys! I have the BEST idea! Seriously! This is gonna be great! Let’s make a tiny enclosure, make it out of concrete and maybe put in a little dirt – and put some elephants in it! It’ll be fabulous! I’m sure the elephants will be happy there!”

Yes, folks, I’ve haughtily and sarcastically shared this scenario with many people over the years. Hey, I never claimed to be mature! Just ask my ninth grade algebra teacher! She’ll be happy to tell you, “Lisa has the potential, she’s just too immature to live up to it!” Haha!

Ok, back to the subject at hand, you guys quit getting me off track! Hrmph! I think I’ve given you enough information in this post, I’d just like to repeat the actions that YOU can take now:

Contact the Dallas Mayor
Call, fax, and email the mayor, whether or not you live in Dallas. (This really is so important – when this hit the national stage is when the council really started listening and deciding to slow odwn the whole decision-making process. So even if you don’t live in Dallas, like I no longer do, please feel free to let your voice be heard.) Politely but firmly urge him to retire Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary. Civilly insist that he intervene in the Zoo’s decision to keep her in Dallas.

Mayor Tom Leppert
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5EN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Main Phone: (214) 670-4054
Fax: (214) 670-0646
tom.leppert@ dallascityhall. com

If you’d rather use the contact form on the city’s website, it’s right here: Contact Mayor Tom Leppert

Thank you so much!