Lucky, Tina, Jewel, and Queenie: Speak Up for These Elephants

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Activism and Actions, Animals in Entertainment

Published July 14, 2009 @ 10:45AM PT

Tina, Jewel, and Queenie are together. Lucky is very much alone. But they are all, actually, in Texas right now. And they all need to be removed from their current miserable circumstances and allowed to live out the rest of their lives at a sanctuary. Tina, Jewel, and Queenie have been enduring a terrible life on the road as circus props for years and are in documented failing health, and Lucky is languishing, alone, in the San Antonio Zoo in her final years.

First, Tina, Jewel, and Queenie:

In Defense of Animals has been persistently on top of this situation and recently sent out an update:

Thank you to all who called and wrote to Congress and the USDA on behalf of Tina, Jewel and Queenie, the three elephants suffering at the hands of their trainer, Will Davenport, a chronic violator of federal animal welfare law. The USDA received so many calls that it set up a special team to handle them. The pressure we are generating is surely helping to bring attention to the plight of these elephants. We are confident that only a little more pressure is necessary to achieve our goal: confiscation of the elephants and transfer to a sanctuary.

Please read the rest of the update for more information, about the elephants' predicament and about what you can do to get them out of it. Send an e-mail to your senators and representatives here. And scroll down to the "What You Can Do" section here for more on contacting these legislators and the USDA.

And then there's lonely Lucky. I received a note from someone with the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force this morning asking me to help spread the word about this 49-year-old elephant's sad plight. Lucky, she explained, "is an elephant who has been alone for almost two years now - that's just the tip of the iceberg, though. We've been tirelessly fighting for her freedom for as long as she's been alone, and it's going to take public awareness to get her out of the hell hole she resides in currently." Please watch the below video about what Lucky has endured and is still enduring. And sign the petition.

The San Antonio Zoo has no excuse for selfishly keeping Lucky in a desperately lonely (and inadequate) enclosure when she could be at a sanctuary, living a much fuller, happier, healthier life in the company of friends. The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is ready to take her in, if only the zoo will release her from her own personal hell. Please tell the zoo to do the right thing. Continue after the video for contact information.

Lucky's defenders ask that in addition to signing their petition, you directly contact the San Antonio City Council as well as these individuals:

Steve McCusker, zoo director
Phone: 210-734-7184 / Press # 62287537#
Fax: 210-734-7291
San Antonio Zoo
3903 N. St. Mary's Street
San Antonio, TX 78212-7183
mccusker@sazoo-aq.org

Gilbert Vasquez, Head of Zoo Board
Marketing and Public Relations
Phone: 210-734-7184, Ext. 1043
gvazquez1@satx.rr.com

Julián Castro, Mayor of San Antonio
Phone: 207-7060/7107
Fax: 210-207-4168
P.O. Box 839966
San Antonio, TX 78283
mayorjuliancastro@sanantonio.gov