The Monterey Zoo is home to many ex-circus elephants who go there to retire after living a torturous life full of pain and misery, yet when they come there they are treated disrespectfully again. The Monterey Zoo does not care for their elephants properly. In 2019, two elephants died within months of each other - 1 from a foot disease that comes from standing on hard surfaces too long, and the other who suffered a bacterial infection.

On top of not taking care of these animals,  employees of the Monterey Zoo have used violent methods such as tapping elephants with a wooden cane to control their movements. Once, a gentle elephant names Paula was so abused that she injured the employ trying to move her. Yet the zoo owner, Charlie Summut, blamed the enclosure and traded the wire fences for an elephant-proof enclosure. This did not fix either of the two problems - the elephant was still being abused and the employee was still at risk of getting hurt again

This petition urges the Monterey Zoo to stop using free contact handling. Free contact handling such as the example above harms both elephants and humans. Therefore, the Monterey Zoo should switch to no contact handling with their elephants.