Letter From Dallas
Don’t Forget Jenny
What happens when a lonely elephant, unsuspecting city officials, and a group of vocal activists collide? My hometown turns into a zoo.
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11 comments
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008, 11:27 am
pj says:
The best thing you can do for Jenny is to just keep calling Mayor Leppert and the Dallas City Council. Go to concernedcitizensforjenny.net. You can also join Jenny's myspace page at myspace.com/songforjenny --- For updates on events for Jenny join the Yahoo group - Concerned Citizens for Jenny. yahoogroups.com
The bottom line is that a zoo is a business and Zoo Director Gregory Hudson wants to be president of the Assoc. of Zoos and Aquariums someday so he doesn't want to send Jenny outside of another AZA facility. This isn't about Jenny to him, it's about his position. Funny how he was ready to throw her to Mexico a few months ago and sign the papers for anything to happen to her, and now he and his zoo employees are acting as if she's their fragile babydoll. It's all an act folks!
As for Margaret Morin, she is a sincere animal advocate. I've known her for years. She looks at what is best for the animals. That is her heart. I stand with her in this effort.
pj
Monday, October 27th, 2008, 1:15 pm
Veronica says:
As recently as this past Wednesday morning Jenny was observed swaying from side to side for two solid hours, a behavior she repeated throughout the day. In humans, a person doing this would be called "stir crazy", a term that Webster defines as "restless or frantic from long confinement, as in prison". This abnormal swaying behavior is due in part to the stress caused by intense confinement. Jenny lives in such restrictive conditions that her movement is limited to only a few steps in any direction. You might be surprised to know that elephants in the wild not only walk for vast distances, but they also run. Jenny is unable to walk for any distance, much less run. This forced inactivity results in the foot problems that are the leading cause of death in captive elephants. Not only do the restrictions of this intense confinement inhibit her physical movement, and thus adversely affect her physical wellness, but the complete lack of mental stimulation in this tiny barren enclosure contributes to her psychological decline. Jenny has been imprisoned in this intensely confined space for 22 years, even worse many of these years she has been in solitary confinement, as she is now. When it is well known that companionship of their own kind is essential to an elephant's well being. The fact that the zoo has an expansion plan in progress acknowledges that the current space is inadequate. Why not let the current elephant exhibit remain vacant until the expansion is complete? Why not let Jenny go, let her retire to The Elephant Sanctuary, let her have at least some period of normalcy in the twilight of her life.
Monday, October 27th, 2008, 11:38 am
jonathan says:
The Dallas Zoo is still deeply entrenched in the traditional or "old school" philosophy of maintaining a postage stamp collection of animals, many which are still in unexcusable as well as embarassing conditions (postage stamp sized exhibits). As a former employee, I use to purposely bypass the large mammal barn because I fely sorry for this forgotton elephant as well as the giraffes that are housed adjacent. The new plans for an exhibit expansion will, like everything else, be delayed and the plight of this elephant will be prolonged. The bottom line, however, is that Jenny will never fit into the zoo's desire to be part of the AZA's elephant breeding program and thus will be expendable anyway (unless if she dies first). You really don't have to be an "animal activist" to be able to see clearly. As society progresses, so will this archaic zoo philosophy.
Monday, October 27th, 2008, 9:38 am
Ilise says:
The average age of death for elephants in zoos is 34 years. Jenny is 32.
While the planned habitat at the zoo is an improvement, it will not be ready for at least another year and a half.
WHY should Jenny spend one more MONTH in her current confinement, when she could be transported to the Sanctuary in Tennessee AT NO COST TO THE CITY of DALLAS?
Jenny could very well die before the enclosure is completed. She deserves to be retired NOW. She will have 300 acres at the Sanctuary as opposed to her current 1/4 acre, or the 3.75 acre improved habitat, IF she lives that long. It is not only beautiful, but it has an expert staff dedicated to the care and happiness of troubled elephants retired from circuses and zoos. Go to elephants.com and see for yourself.
I would MUCH rather see an elephant really BEING an elephant on video, than to contribute to her suffering by insisting she remain at the zoo. I do not enjoy watching a confined animal who is obviously bored, troubled and depressed.
CALL the MAYOR, 214-670-4054--- call your council person. Let them know what you think. TO DO NOTHING is to allow Jenny to suffer.
Sunday, October 26th, 2008, 10:37 am
tracy says:
If you want to help then support the Zoo's new habitat expansion and listen to the current facts, not propaganda fed from a small group's animal rights agenda.
Saturday, October 25th, 2008, 11:33 am
michele fuller says:
How can I help? I want this elephant to live in a healthy environment too.
fullerlifecenter.com
mfullerj@yahoo.com
Friday, October 24th, 2008, 12:01 am
Tracy says:
The article states that "Morin is hardly an animal rights activist". Unfortunately this doesn't appear to be the case. See here and here.
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008, 11:39 pm
tracy says:
There is absolutely no substitute for seeing elephants in person, something you can't get from a video camera.
Kudos to the Dallas Zoo for building the new habitat. It's a shame that Ms. Morin doesn't just say she's an animal rights activist, since it's evident from her website and her protests on behalf of World Farm Animals Day, Primate Liberation Week, and numerous circus protests. http://www.vegnod.com/calendar.html
What a tangled web we weave..
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008, 7:25 pm
Linda says:
Thank you for the excellent article about Jenny. It's sad that Jenny is still stuck at the zoo. It makes me wonder if Mr. Hudson is really more concerned about his career than he is about Jenny.
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008, 4:33 pm
jaime says:
thank you so much for your article on jenny. we are flabbergasted that the city of dallas has not allowed her to retire in tennessee yet. every week we go before city council to speak on her behalf, and every week the mayor ignores our pleas, but be assured we will not stop fighting. jenny deserves a chance to heal.
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008, 11:33 am
pj says:
I am Jenny's myspace page creator. Thank you for writing such a fair article regarding the campaign for Jenny. I posted your article in the blog section on Jenny's myspace page. myspace.com/songforjenny.
I think a beautiful follow up story would be one where all of the Dallas citizens who know and love Jenny would be watching on their computers on the ELE-CAM at The Elephant Sanctuary as Jenny is unloaded from her travel crate as she opens her eyes for the first time to freedom since being taken from her mother's side at 2 years of age. That would be such a beautiful thing!
I don't think people realize that if they go to elephants.com they can watch the elephants who have been confined in zoos and circuses thrive and meet new friends on the live camera at the sanctuary. We can watch them roll in the mud, pull up trees and walk their 30 miles or so per day as they gain strength from being so confined all of their lives. Even one of the Dallas Zoo volunteers told me that she watches the ELE-CAM everyday and wants Jenny to be at the sanctuary too.
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