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

Back to Part II

Zoocheck and PAWS won public favour by having Bob Barker, to much media fanfare promise $800,000.00 to fly the elephants. For 18 months this is what they said. The first plane was an Antonov 124 Russian cargo plane with a low pressure cargo hold which would have broken international aviation laws and would have been a medical health risk to the elephants. We challenged this on social media and at council as unsafe and dangerous. Regardless of the concerns Councillors and Zoocheck pushed for the transport in this plane and to top it off they pushed for it in the month of August of 2012, the hottest month of the year. We successfully fought this and won but PAWS with their seemingly infinite bank account put out a press release claiming they had decided to delay the transport on those dates due to the heat and inherent risks you can read their claims here (Toronto Star) and here (CBC News). The press release appeared as a news article and went viral.  But recent FOIA indicates that they were fully prepared to transfer the elephants in that plane during that month. Councillor Cho made several failed attempts to bring a Motion without Notice on this issue to force the August transport date. That transfer date accommodated the planes schedule in North America and in Zoocheck’s own words would save Bob Barker a few hundred thousand dollars. Better off dead than captive bred, even if it means killing these elephants in an effort to get them to what activists claim is “freedom”, tuberculosis is not freedom, dying en route to a sanctuary is not freedom. Being sacrificed in the name of a cause is not freedom, it is exploitation. Do not be fooled by well crafted expensive press releases, it was not PAWS, Zoocheck Bob Barker or the pro-PAWS City Councillors who stopped that august transport. It was lobbied hard by citizens and by zoo staff. Zoocheck and PAWS were more than willing to follow through with transport in August of 2012 but it was stopped. They were more than willing to transport the elephants in this unsuitable aircraft during the hottest month of the year and now we are to consider and value their “expertise” on the mode of transport changes and a 4200km non-stop road trip?

Now it is August of 2013. Almost 2 years later. Many on council are driven by their refusal to pay the transport costs and their decisions have nothing to do with what is best for our elephants. Others are driven at this point by ego refusing to admit they made a mistake and the driving force behind support for PAWS is driven by extremist anti-zoo ideology and money. Imagine the momentum for large animal rights organizations when they can hail this as a victory over the AZA, a victory against zoos.

I saved the most despicable for last. After almost 2 years of promises Zoocheck have claimed that they cannot find a commercial plane (pg 10) large enough to transport our elephants. At least this is what they told the Department of National Defence (here). The first plane, the Anotnov-124 was deemed unsafe and would violate IATA transport laws for live animals. The Toronto Zoo elephants are massive and with crate dimensions included Zoocheck claims there is no plane large enough to load and unload through a plane’s cargo doors despite having been given a perfectly viable air transport plan by a reputable elephant transport specialist. The zoo CEO and Zoo Board Chair have allowed Zoocheck and PAWS to interpret the contract and Council motions in such a way that Active Environments now have control over the mode of transport; there is no evidence that this company has ever undertaken a move of this size and distance. They have now chosen to truck the elephants the 4200km to PAWS. In a letter written to the DND by PAWS’s lawyers in Toronto Zoocheck claims the road trip will take 4.5 days and that no commercial option is available (even though there were viable commercial quotes). This was to influence the DND to commit a RCAF plane to transport the elephants. Of course transporting them by RCAF would make a great news story and excellent PR for PAWs, Zoocheck and the Councillors involved in this travesty of justice. The request to the DND and RCAF was all over the media as if it was a done deal when a detailed review had yet to be conducted to assess the logistics. One of the 8 questions asked by the DND was whether or not there were any commercial options; they cannot get involved if a commercial option is available (here Pg.10). Zoocheck claimed there was no viable commercial offer, publicly in the media and privately with their contribution to the 8 question response from the City of Toronto to the DND and in a legal letter (here pg.8-10) sent by PAWS lawyers in Toronto. The City of Toronto even sent an official request to the DND also stating that there was no commercial option. However City of  Toronto FOIA indicates that a viable and legal commercial quote from an experienced elephant transport company was forwarded to the DND. Is this why the RCAF deal never flew? One can only wonder. I imagine the DND does not take kindly to being lied to. At no point in any of the FOIA do Zoocheck, the zoo’s CEO or Board Chair or City Officials mention the previously submitted commercial quote to the DND or the reason why they may have rejected it. To our knowledge, having reviewed the commercial proposal it met all the legal and ethical requirements for safe and human air transport. The DND only found out about the quote submission because the company in question forwarded the quote themselves. (here Pg.11)

Keep in mind the Toronto Zoo elephants have limited travel experience, only once for the older ones in their youth and Thika has never travelled. They are protect contact elephants, once they are on those crates they are stuck there for 4200km. All feeding, watering, feces removal and vet care must be done through the crate openings. In case of an emergency only a crane can remove the crates and once crates are removed as protected contact elephants they need to be offloaded at a zoological facility equipped to manage the girls and provide space for them. You cannot predetermine the timing of a medical emergency, and if one of these elephants has a medical emergency the odds while driving across the Midwest of being close to a facility which meets these criteria are pretty slim. (map). Active Environments are not a transport company, they are a training and management company who have been given control over a transport plan of three elephants unlike anything they have ever undertaken before.

 It would appear from the most recent City of Toronto FOIA that Zoocheck has convinced Bob Barker that the zoo staff will somehow attempt to disrupt the loading and transport process. Their job has been to train the elephants to enter their crates, they have done this. Active Environments are claimed to be expert elephant trainers and PAWS claims this too, surely now that the elephants have been trained by the award winning elephant management team at the Toronto Zoo PAWS and Active Environments can load them onto a couple of trucks? But as a result of more childish manipulation by Zoocheck Mr. Barker is hesitant to put the money up front for the costs of air transport despite making this promise in the media again and again. It seems Zoocheck’s constant private (in emails) and public media antics disparaging the zoo staff have likely planted this fear in his head and as a result the girls are now forced to be transported by road, it has nothing to do with our elephants being too big for transport by air.  It has everything to do with money and deceit. City Council is willing to risk these elephant’s lives to save a few bucks or cater to animal rights ideology and it appears these so called animal welfare activists are willing to do the same. After being accused of having nefarious and selfish motives for two years now it seems that the only people who are truly concerned about the true welfare of these animals are the zoo staff and citizens who have fought this transfer from day one.
Better off dead than captive bred? Seems this catch phrase for the anti zoo movement will hold true if we allow a horse transport company to transport 3 elephants, 44yrs, 43yrs and 32yrs non-stop over 4200km into the cold westerly climate and temperatures of the Rocky Mountains in the month of October. All in the name of animal welfare?

Our source at a USA agency informs us that PAWS and Zoocheck are now currently lobbying USA government agencies with an application for a variance to waive the 28hr law so that they can drive with limited or no stops to California, 4200km. Rob Laidlaw has indicated in email correspondence that they will truck these elephants non-stop for what he claims is a 50 hour trip. It is likely to exceed 50hrs and that is not taking into consideration the unforeseen, that which you cannot predict. One only has to recall last summer’s tragic death during transport of three seals from an Ontario zoo, a move and a transfer which was initiated by and pushed by Zoocheck Canada. Two of the seals died within hours of the start of the move, one died later after it arrived at the St. Louis Zoo, Zoocheck of course blamed the transporter and the zoo.

We feel this entire transfer is inhumane but the Toronto Zoo is a registered research facility in Ontario and therefore exempt from the Animal Welfare Laws which could challenge this as inhumane.  However according to the Animal Welfare laws in Ontario this transport is inhumane. According to what WSPA Canada lobbies for on behalf of livestock in transport to slaughter it is inhumane. According to the 28Hr law in the United States it is inhumane and according to PETA if a circus transfers an animal for this length or time, chained and immobile it is inhumane, according to many animal welfare activists it is INHUMANE and according to The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Act (they enforce  it is inhumane. And according to the Federation of Canadian Humane Societies, exceeding the duration of recommended transport times by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies qualifies as putting an animal in “distress” (here pg.13 subsection 64) and (here). In fact The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies does not recommend transportation longer than 52 hours for farm animals so the land transport plan of 50+ hours is in direct contravention of what is cited in the Federal Health of Animals Act. Because guess what? It is inhumane to transfer three disease-free animals (two ageing) 4200km cross country chained in a crate on a truck for 4.5 days to a facility with a known tuberculosis outbreak and risks in the herd they will be integrated into. It is inhuman because there is a closer, disease free facility willing to take these elephants. For $250k in transport cost savings to Florida the City of Toronto will risk the lives of the Toronto Zoo elephants. And for those of you who are thinking why don’t you contact these organizations? We have. Not one has responded to our emails of concern over this inhumane and unethical transport and transfer.

In a nutshell it is an animal welfare nightmare where ideology has taken precedence over the true welfare and well being of these three elephants. Facts, science and common sense are ignored and replaced by some kind of desperation to have these elephants at any cost, including risking their lives in transport or to tuberculosis. Councillor Raymond Cho at the November 27, 2012 council meeting said “Our elephants are so old anyway what difference does it make if they die from tuberculosis”, he honestly said this! Councillor Josh Matlow said “If the elephants could choose for themselves, don’t you think they would choose to take this risk?” He admits there is a risk and clearly council is willing to take that risk with these elephant’s lives in order to remain infallible and cater to their ideology or save a few bucks. You can view the archives of the meeting (here) and review the motions here. Ironically if council had allowed the zoo to make the decision the elephants would be in Florida, would have already been there likely for an entire year which would have save the city over one million dollars. And more ironically animal rights groups claim zoos exploit animals for profit, greed and gain. In the case of the Toronto Zoo elephants the only people exploiting these elephants are the animal rights groups and their supporters, using Iringa, Toka and Thika as poster children for their campaigns, personal philosophies and a victory against zoos. As you can see it is a political nightmare where we have proof and evidence that PAWS is the wrong facility for these elephants and that their lives will be risked with such a long transport and then further risked due to tuberculosis in the African herd.

Our elephants can contribute the future of wild elephants and aid in the improvement of captive elephant care in zoos in North America if they are a part of the new program at TNEC. Otherwise they are tucked away at PAWS where only the well to do who can afford the $250 a day entrance fee will ever see them. At PAWS they will aid in raising money for PAWS and their affiliates like Born Free USA and In Defense of Animals to further campaign against zoos. This transfer has to be stopped.

What the public doesn’t know:

• The African elephants at PAWs shared a barn with the currently TB infected Asian elephants for almost 5 years
• The last African elephant to die at PAWS (who had a high risk history of exposure to TB including at PAWS) had no cause of death determined. No tissue cultures done on this elephant, Ruby. Ruby lived with Asian elephant Gita who lived with two now deceased from TB elephants Annie and Calle. Toronto Zoo vets noted that a mediastinal bronchial mass was found at Ruby’s necropsy, the tissues were not cultured
• 71 a deceased African Elephant had no tissue cultures done
• Ruby was treated at LA Zoo as a precautionary measure (LA Zoo had a TB outbreak 1997-2000)
• Tuberculosis has a 2-20 incubation period
• Latent tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose in a living elephant
• The 2^nd strain of tuberculosis found in deceased Rebecca at PAWS is a new strain of TB not previously known to elephants, where did Rebecca get this strain?
• Sabu died TB+, he also had a second strain of TB different from the one he was diagnosed with in 2001
• The people of this city do not know that Councillors Berardinetti and DeBaeremaeker literally lied to them about TB at PAWS. They also lied about staff, blaming them for this opposition and DeBaeremaeker in several incidences claimed that zoo staff were going to lose their jobs when this is entirely untrue.
• Annie was treated when statpak reactive for one year and STILL converted to active TB
• They had no idea Rebecca was TB positive until after she died so no protective gear was worn by staff
• All Statpak and trunk wash results for Rebecca, Annie and Wanda were negative prior to Rebecca’s conversion
• 2 elephants were exposed and infected on site at PAWS
• There is a confirmed case of human tuberculosis transmission at PAWS (see relevance here as it pertains to Ruby deceased African elephant) and here, here and here
• The two active cases of human TB in PAWS County, Calaveras County match the elephant named Calle, deceased from tuberculosis at San Francisco Zoo 2004 (see supporting evidence and relevance here and here)
• There are missing tissue cultures for deceased African elephants
• There is missing trunk wash data for several elephants including Africans
• Evidence indicates that the local Calaveras county health department had NO IDEA there was a TB+ elephant at PAWS

Some of our presentations and other research

 

Our elephants can contribute the future of wild elephants and aid in the improvement of captive elephant care in zoos in North America if they are a part of the new program at TNEC. TNEC will train zoos and zoo keepers how to use protected contact in order to phase of the use of elephant hooks, the Toronto Zoo elephants would have aided in phasing out the elephant hook in all AZA facilities. Otherwise they are tucked away at PAWS where only the well to do who can afford the $250 a day entrance fee will ever see them. At PAWS they will aid in raising money for PAWS and their affiliates like Born Free USA and In Defense of Animals to further campaign against zoos. Did this all come down to no one wanting to or being able to put up the money up front to be reimbursed later by Mr. Barker? The promise and commitment to air transport was made and they cannot deliver, the promise there was no tuberculosis was made and it was untrue. This contract was signed under false pretenses and broken promises. The CEO of the Toronto Zoo, John Tracogna, has the power to veto this contract and he chooses to pander to politicians and pay cheques instead of listening to the zoological professionals. This transfer has to be stopped and it is time for the AZA and CAZA to demand Mr. Tracogna's resignation.

Deliberate exposure to a deadly disease is unethical. There are safer alternatives. These elephants will die for your cause?