Solitary confinement is torture for an animal as intensely social as an elephant. Yet the Valley Zoo in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is resisting calls to send its lonely elephant, Lucy, to a natural-habitat sanctuary. She needs your help now!    http://ida.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6681.0&printer_friendly=1

Pledge then act to send the letters below and visit the site to see what more you can do.

 

Lucy is a 34-year-old Asian elephant who was captured from the wilds of Sri Lanka and, at only age two, shipped to the Valley Zoo, where she was mainly kept alone for the next 12 years. She suffers both physically and psychologically due to the horribly inadequate conditions at the Valley Zoo, including cruel social isolation, lack of space, cold hard surfaces that damage elephants’ feet and joints, and a frigid climate that forces Lucy indoors for at least five months out of the year.

The Valley Zoo was identified in a 2007 report by elephant biologist Winnie Kiiru as the worst facility for elephants in Canada. In her report she stated:

“The climate in Edmonton is completely inappropriate for elephants. The cold climate, with the zoo's lock-in policy, results in the elephants being locked inside the barn for most of their lives and they are showing physical ailments as a result. In addition, the stereotypic behavior exhibited by Lucy and Samantha are typical of stressed elephants in zoos. I recommend that the City of Edmonton take immediate action to move Lucy and Samantha to a sanctuary that can provide them with a more appropriate physical and social environment and to close the elephant exhibit at this zoo.”

In fact, conditions at the zoo worsened for Lucy since Ms. Kiiru’s visit. She was again left alone in 2007 when her companion, Samantha, was shipped to the North Carolina Zoo for breeding. Elephants are not meant to live in isolation, especially the highly social females who, in the wild, remain with their extended family for life.

Lucy’s cruel captivity has resulted in a lifetime of painful chronic foot disease, arthritis, respiratory problems and psychological distress in the form of repetitive swaying and rocking. The Valley Zoo has claimed that Lucy’s ill health means she cannot be transported, but then contradicted itself by saying these problems are under control and that Lucy is fine where she is.

The truth is that Lucy must leave the Valley Zoo now if she is to survive. And the pressure on the Zoo and City of Edmonton is mounting.

Last month, an Edmonton-based veterinarian and zoologist, Debi Zimmerman, released a report titled One Veterinarian’s Search for Truth in the “Lucy the Elephant” Debate, presenting a solid, fact-based argument for moving Lucy to a sanctuary. In May 2009, 36 prominent Canadian authors, including Margaret Atwood and Barbara Gowdy, wrote to Edmonton’s Mayor and City Council and asked them to intervene by facilitating an independent expert assessment of Lucy’s health and her transfer to a more suitable facility. Even legendary television game-show host Bob Barker has joined the fight to save Lucy’s life.

 

1. Take a moment to help Lucy by sending an email to the City of Edmonton’s mayor and city council. Please be very polite; insults and accusations will only alienate those who are in the best position to help Lucy.

Here is a sample letter, but your correspondence will work better if you put your thoughts in your own words:

Honorable Mayor and Council Members,

I urge you to please take action to save the life of Lucy, the solitary elephant at the Valley Zoo, by sending her to a natural habitat sanctuary without delay.

Science tells us that elephants are highly social animals who should never be kept alone. For this reason, Canadian and international zoo guidelines specify that elephants be kept in social groups. No matter how good the intentions of Lucy’s keepers, they are no substitute for the companionship of other elephants.

Given the inhospitable weather that forces Lucy indoors for several months of the year, lack of space and the inadequate conditions for elephants at the Valley Zoo, it would be wrong to bring in other elephants. What Lucy needs right now is the relief and rehabilitation that can be found at an elephant sanctuary, where her physical and social needs will be better met. Elephant sanctuaries have helped many elephants like Lucy, who suffers from captivity-caused arthritis, foot disease and abnormal repetitive behaviors, by providing year-round access to vast natural habitats and the companionship of other elephants.

Please listen to the pleas of concerned and compassionate people from your own country and around the world. I urge you to order an independent assessment of Lucy’s health, then send her to a sanctuary where she can live a life much closer to what nature intended for her, and close the elephant exhibit at Valley Zoo.

Sincerely,

Contact information:

Mayor Stephen Mandel and the Edmonton City Council
City of Edmonton
City Hall, Second Floor
1 Sir Winston Churchill Sq.
Edmonton, AB T5J 2R7 Canada
Phone: 780-496-8100
Fax: 780-496-8292

Email the mayor at: stephen.mandel@edmonton.ca

Email the council members at:
karen.leibovici@edmonton.ca
linda.sloan@edmonton.ca
ron.hayter@edmonton.ca
kim.krushell@edmonton.ca
ed.gibbons@edmonton.ca
tony.caterina@edmonton.ca
jane.batty@edmonton.ca
ben.henderson@edmonton.ca
bryan.anderson@edmonton.ca
don.iveson@edmonton.ca
amarjeet.sohi@edmonton.ca
dave.thiele@edmonton.ca