VHS helps win battle to save elephant from zoo
Date: July 1, 2004
VHS was at the forefront of a successful project in May to send Tina the elephant at the Greater Vancouver Zoo to the elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.
Tina was living in poor conditions at the zoo, suffering from chronic foot infections and stress due to loneliness and lack of stimulation. The zoo was planning to move her, prompting concern about where she would be sent. VHS, working with Zoocheck Canada and other concerned groups, launched a project to urge the zoo to retire Tina to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. The 800-acre sanctuary provides elephants with freedom to roam, a coercion-free management system - and all the care Tina needed.
The project sparked massive media coverage and intense public pressure for Tina to be moved to the sanctuary. When the zoo announced it was going to send Tina to the Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario, there was widespread outrage. The project brought Bowmanville’s poor reputation for animal treatment to light, galvanizing public opposition to the move. Finally, after two weeks of irresistible pressure, the zoo announced it would not send Tina to Bowmanville. The next day it announced that Tina would be going to the sanctuary in Tennessee. It is expected that she will be moved there by the end of June. Anyone wanting to check on Tina's progress can log on to the sanctuary's website at www.elephants.com.
VHS is delighted that the zoo changed its mind but we remain concerned about conditions for other animals there – a concern heightened by recent news of the death of a five-year-old Siberian tiger at the zoo. We will continue to monitor the Greater Vancouver Zoo’s operations and we will not hesitate to bring poor animal conditions or care to the public’s attention.
In the meantime we would like to express our appreciation for the remarkable public support for the project to save Tina. When people join together to help animals they really can make a difference.
