Guess who is at the San Diego Zoo? Tina and Jewel. Their saga is finally over, or least their captivity under the abusive handling of Willie Davenport. In Defense of Animals informs us that Tina and Jewel were confiscated by the USDA on August 20 2009. It was reported that Jewel is very ill and she will need immediate care. The San Diego Zoo was good enough to take them in temporarily, provide the medical care, before the elephants are permanently homed at the sanctuary in Tennessee (See Correction in Comments). All involved are intent in keeping these two elephants together. Tina is 39 years old while Jewel is 40. They are considered dangerously underweight. It seems that you can judge their proper weight by the area behind their eyes. When this area is sunken, there's a problem. You can see it in the photo. The seizure occurred in Leggett, Texas where Mr. Davenport argued that he had done nothing wrong. The Davenports have been in the circus business for generations. Willie Davenport’s father was fined $200,000 and barred from the exotic animal business several years ago when one baby elephant named Heather was found dead in the back of a poorly ventilated truck in Albuquerque. Done nothing wrong? Yup, in that case, I am Neil Armstrong.Attention is now turned to Queenie, the elephant who is still in the hands of the Davenports. She needs to be freed as well. Three years ago, an undercover video taken by Animal Defenders International showed the kicking, beating, hooking and the use of an electric shock device on Queenie and Chrissie. Elephants in circuses, or any animal for that matter, who are held in cruel captivity and then forced to perform unnatural acts for our entertainment indicate how low we have become as a species. It's deplorable all around.
Comments
Your question moved me to again read IDA's report, more carefully this time, and I realized my mistake. When the word " sanctuary " is mentioned in relation to elephants, the sanctuary in TN comes to my mind. At first, I intended to call them and verify the info but IDA's report actually said that they would like to see Tina and Jewel go to " a sanctuary " directly instead of a zoo. My mistake and thanks for calling my attention to it.