On June 12, the Texas Republican Party brought an 8,600-pound elephant named Paige into the George R. Brown Convention Center as the finale to Governor Greg Abbott's speech. The moment went viral when Paige urinated on the convention floor. A video also captured a handler poking her mid-stream with a bullhook, a sharp-tipped tool banned in dozens of U.S. jurisdictions because of the pain it causes.

What the cameras also caught, though no one noticed at the time: the entire exhibition was illegal.

Houston requires anyone bringing a wild animal into the city to apply for a permit 20 days in advance. The permit process exists to protect the public, requiring proof of liability insurance, written consent from property owners, and a plan to prevent the animal from escaping or harming people. No permit was filed. No registration was submitted. The Dallas Morning News confirmed through public records that the city received nothing. Failure to obtain the permit is a misdemeanor under the Houston code of ordinances, punishable by a fine of $500 to $2,000.

The exhibitor, Trunks and Humps of Montgomery County, Texas, is one of fewer than six traveling elephant exhibitors still operating in the U.S. It is not hard to see why the industry is dying. Federal regulators have cited Bill Swain's business for Animal Welfare Act violations across decades, including as recently as December 2025, when a woman was knocked unconscious by a camel kick at a church nativity event. In 2004, Animal Defenders International identified Swain's son on video pulling an elephant to the ground with a bullhook and beating others with a golf club and electric prod. Paige herself, captured in Africa in the 1980s, had extensive cracks in her front toes that a federal investigator questioned as signs of poor nutrition back in 1998.

None of this stopped the Texas GOP from booking the act. None of it prompted organizers to obtain the required permit. And as of now, none of it has prompted the City of Houston to say whether it intends to enforce its own ordinance.

Twelve states and more than 200 jurisdictions have already banned or restricted the use of wild animals in traveling shows. Over 50 countries have prohibited what was witnessed on that convention floor. Houston has the law on the books. We are calling on Mayor John Whitmire and Animal Services Director Jarrad Mears to enforce it, on Governor Abbott to answer publicly for his campaign's role in booking this exhibition, and on federal regulators to take the strongest available action against Trunks and Humps.

Paige deserves better. So does the public.