Guest Editorial: The Toronto Zoo Elephant Saga, by Zoos Matter (Part I)

The Toronto Zoo Elephant Saga – The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth

Truth For Toronto Zoo Elephants – What you won’t read in mainstream media

The group Zoos Matter has fought tirelessly to stop the proposed transfer of the Toronto Zoo elephants to the PAWS sanctuary. If you do not know of the story please sit back and prepare yourself because the truth about the Toronto Zoo elephants is the most despicable act of animal exploitation at the expense of true animal welfare.

Upon arrival to his new job as CEO of the zoo John Tracogna’s first act was to phase out our African elephant exhibit. The issue cited was money, not enough to do the necessary upgrades.

Toronto had several elephant deaths prior to this decision and by May of 2011 and facilities upgrades were badly needed. Further the AZA had laid out new guidelines for its accredited facilities on the keeping of elephants. All of this meant more money. In 2009 it appeared as if the zoo board was prepared to make these changes but by 2010 and John Tracogna’s arrival this plan had changed. What remained of the zoo’s herd were three healthy and spectacular female African elephants, Iringa (44) and Toka (43) who have lived at our zoo since they were young calves and Thika (32) who was born here.

After the decision in 2011 to phase out the exhibit the zoo undertook a due diligence process to review 7 AZA facilities which had offered to re-home our elephants. By the fall of 2011 they had completed their review and had chosen a plan and a home. The girls were to be relocated to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida and integrated into a multi generational family herd. This herd would be the first herd eventually relocated to the now newly completed National Elephant Centre in Fellesmere Florida. At the time of the decision TNEC had not even broken ground. The zoo board had ruled out one sanctuary located in Tennessee due to a tuberculosis outbreak which had occurred in 2009. They had also ruled out west coast facilities due to the long transport distances and the logistics involved, not the least of which was that moving three elephants no t accustomed to transport period let alone a 4.5 day road trip was inhumane and unnecessary considering there other excellent potential facilities much closer.

 It is not surprising that the pending announcement was somehow leaked to Zoocheck Canada and City Councillor Michelle Berardinetti. A City Councillor named Glenn DeBaeremaeker is also a zoo board member who has worked closely with Zoocheck and their affiliates for years. Councillor Berardinetti a self proclaimed animal rights activist worked with Councillor DeBaeremaeker, Councillor/zoo board member Raymond Cho and Zoocheck’s Julie Woodyer to write a motion for council demanding the city send our elephants to PAWS. In fact Julie Woodyer wrote the motion verbatim which was carried in favour of PAWS verbatim.   The Toronto Zoo is owned by the City of Toronto. Several councillors and some of whom are zoo board members had been colluding with PAWS sanctuary (possibly since 2009) and just prior to the zoos announcement they seized control of the elephants with Zoocheck’s motion claiming the elephants as city assets. In a motion without notice (the motion written by Zoocheck) on October 24, 2011 without any site visit or due diligence they overrode the zoo’s professional expertise and authority and chose PAWS as the new home for our elephants. Other than the CEO no zoo vets or senior zoo staff members were at the meeting. Although this is in contravention of Ontario Animal Welfare Laws and regulations to make that decision without a site visit or completed due diligence, the zoo is registered as a research facility in Ontario and exempt from the laws guiding the PAW (Provincial Animal Welfare laws).

This is the Toronto Zoo’s due diligence report and background information:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5WlBT7uQTbwenBZaWozS01nZHM/edit
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.EX24.30
Background Information (Committee)

(October 18, 2012) Report from the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Zoo on Elephant Transfer Status Update (here)

(September 25, 2012) Memo with Attachments, from the Toronto Zoo on Elephant Transfer Status (here)
Background Information (City Council)

(November 20, 2012) Supplementary report from the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Zoo on the Elephant Transfer Due Diligence Review (EX24.30a)

Attachment 1 to the report (November 20, 2012) from the Chief Executive Officer

Toronto Zoo – Due Diligence Review 
Attachment 1 to the Due Diligence
Attachment 2 to the Due Diligence
Attachment 3 to the Due Diligence
Attachment 4 to the Due Diligence
Attachment 5 to the Due Diligence
Attachment 6 to the Due Diligence
Attachment 2 to the report (November 20, 2012) from the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Zoo
Attachment 3 to the report (November 20, 2012) from the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Zoo
CEO’s recommendations

Councillor Berardinetti and Councillor Raymond Cho did a personal site visit on November 8-10, 2011, the zoo staff went December, 2011. Councillor Berardinetti claimed her trip was a family trip not an official site visit (she has no academic or professional authority to assess PAWS’ viability as a potential home) despite evidence in FOIA indicating that her trip was possibly funded by Zoocheck and PAWS (see here). We are to assume I guess that Councillor Berardinetti often takes family trips with Councillor Cho.

 The zoo’s site visit report which was not entirely favourable was never brought to the board or council or made public you can review it here accessed via FOIA. Zoocheck kept pounding home in the media that the zoo was just doing the AZA’s bidding and not concerned with the actual welfare of the animals in question.

 The decision by council was challenged immediately by zoo staff, citizens and experts from around the globe on the grounds of bio security issues and tuberculosis as well as the long distance for transport. It was outlined in this blog post from the most comprehensive captive elephant database on the internet. It was discussed at Zoo News Digest. This blog site posted the first USDA documents back in April of 2012 which finally proved there had been a tuberculosis crisis at PAWS.

Meanwhile Zoocheck and Councillors consistently and adamantly refuted any claims of Tuberculosis on site, claiming PAWS had never had a disease issue, that PAWS did not have TB, (news articles). They made this claim again and again in the media while attacking the zoo and its staff accusing them of pushing a “red herring” despite expert testimony to the contrary from Dr. Dale Smith, a zoological disease specialist and pathologist from the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College.  Councillors and Zoocheck continued to accuse zoo staff of caring only for their jobs and not for the welfare of the elephants. Meanwhile PAWS, Zoocheck and Zoocheck’s USA counterpart Born Free USA gathered their petition signing troops; the thousands of zealots who will sign anything their spiritual leaders tell them to without question. The media gave Zoocheck and these Councillors’ endless opportunities to spew their ideology and lies in the press while zoo staff was heavily censored by council with new social media policies and threats of job loss. This is still the current the strategy to keep the truth at bay with CEO John Tracogna doing Councillors bidding without question and without any support for the zoo and its staff.

City of Toronto Councillor Correspondence with Zoocheck Canada accessed via Freedom of information

FOIA 1
FOIA 2
FOIA 3
FOIA 4
FOIA 5
FOIA 6
FOIA 7
FOIA 8
FOIA 9

Council’s reasoning against TNEC (supplied to them by Zoocheck in fine print here ) is that they would use elephant hooks despite the use of this tool being limited to calving/birthing and that our elephants are protected contact and would never see an elephant hook. Councillor DeBaeremaeker brought in an Asian styled ankus not an elephant hook/ankus as is used in North American elephant management as an example and waved it around council to push the point home comparing it to a crowbar. It was pure ideology driven decision making, propaganda and nothing more. Not only did the zoo claim they would choose no facility which used elephant hooks but they also claimed that they would not choose any facility on the west coast due to the logistics for transport nor would they choose any facility with past or current issues with tuberculosis. City politicians have been willing to bypass the TB and transport issues to cater to their will and anti-zoo beliefs but they will not budge on the elephant hook. This is because in the end their aversion to TNEC is not because of an elephant hook it is simply because it will breed elephants for the AZA and our council is against either zoos or at least elephants in zoos, they have bought into animal rights propaganda without doing any actual research of their own. They have relied solely on the information which was being provided to them by anti zoo organization Zoocheck Canada, none of them ever contacted TNEC or the AZA for clarification. The AZA has claimed that they will be phasing out the use of an elephant hook by 2014. Zoocheck knew they could play on the heartstrings of the unsuspecting uninformed public with elephant hook propaganda.

Continue to Part II