Not sure what happened to this weeks' show - I'll let you know as soon as I do!
We discussed the plight of Lucy, a lone female elephant at the Edmonton Zoo, as well as bill 50, the new bill that just passed that begins to give more right s to animals.
Details about Lucy can be found on The Friends Of Captive Animals website here.
There is also a lot of detail at Zoocheck Canada's website here
The problem is that Elephants are highly social creatures, and do not do well in zoo environments, especially when kept alone. They develop many chronic and uncomfortable conditions when kept in these environments. A list of Lucy's medical problems can be found on both of those websites. They are very typical of an elephant kept in less than ideal conditions. An elephant sanctuary in Tennessee has offered to transport her, and take care of her, at no cost to the city of Edmonton, but the city refuses. They say she is too ill for transport, amongst other things, but elephants much more ill than Lucy have been safely transported in the past to the sanctuary, and NO elephant has ever died en route to the sanctuary.
Zoocheck Canada's website has a wonderful letter written by Bob Barker that sums up the issues surrounding Lucy. Find it here. (PDF, may take a minute to load)
Bill 50 is a very important piece of legislation concerning tougher laws to protect animals - Friends of Captive Animals sum it up nicely here - bottom half of the page.
And this is the official website for bill 50 here.
F.O.C.A. has sent me a letter to post on the blog. I cannot do it from home, as I don't have the program on this computer to open it!
I will post it as soon as I am able.
In the meantime, please check out the links in this post. Zoocheck has a link to write an email to the Edmonton city council, it only takes a minute.
FOCA's website also contains lots of valuable, and interesting, information. Among my favorite pages are "what captive animals need" - things to notice and pay attention to if you happen to visit a zoo, as well as what to do if you see that the animals are NOT provided for.
I have also listed the links for easy access on the right hand side of the page, in the links box.
Lastly, check out this amazing video. It is about another elephant in the Tennessee sanctuary.
Here it is. I think it's a wonderful clip, and very heart-warming.
Thank-you so much to both Vicki and Elizabeth for being such wonderful guests!
Well, I'll let you know what happened to the show this week, and in the meantime, love your pets.
-Lisa
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