If you know anything about politics in the city of Toronto you will know that our current municipal “leaders” are self proclaimed legislators of the future, and they legislate according to a future where they think higher intellect will see zoos as archaic, unnecessary prisons with little or no value to the education or conservation of species and their wild habitats. From my personal experience I have never considered the extremist anti zoo movement to be of a higher intellect.
Our Zoo board chair Joe Torzsok, our CEO John Tracogna and city councillor/zoo board members have done everything in their power to cripple our zoo and its efforts to share with the public their concerns about TB at PAWS. Oppressive social media polices were put in place, gag orders placed on senior vets and staff. Shut up or lose your job sums it up nicely. The AZA pulled the Toronto Zoo’s accreditation citing issues with our governance. The AZA came to the zoo board meeting, on USA Thanksgiving in 2011, and was received poorly. EMA and CAZA came as well, they received the same reception. Zoocheck kindly offered to spoonfeed City Councillors with statements for the media denouncing AZA accreditation as less than the standard of PAWS and that the loss of our accreditation was a bullying tactic by the AZA (pg3) to force a re-decision on PAWS as a home for the girls; because according to Zoocheck this was now about zoos vs sanctuaries and the zoo and its supporters were driving this battle in the name of the AZA and not because we were and still are concerned about tuberculosis at PAWS. They did everything they could to deflect from the seriousness of TB on site. Here in PAWS own newsletters from 2012 you can read where they disparage the Toronto Zoo and the AZA. Of course these are the same people, Zoocheck and Councillors, who misled the media accusing zoo staff of being motivated by fear of job loss, see here and here – knowing full well that no staff would be losing their jobs.
In January of 2012 a bull elephant named Sabu died at PAWS. As a result of Sabu’s death a citizen led group called Zoos Matter began what has become an almost 2 year battle. He had only been there for 18 months and he was just 29 years old. Sabu was one of two elephants and $270,000.00 which PAWS agreed to take as a result of a legal settlement with Ringling Brothers/Feld Entertainment. Red flags were raised. It took less than a week to hunt down supporting evidence that Sabu likely died from TB. His previous owners stated publicly that Sabu showed no signs of lameness or illness when he left their facility to travel to PAWS.
In an email between Zoocheck’s Julie Woodyer and Councillor DeBaeremaeker Zoocheck claims PAWS had no idea Sabu had TB previously, and that his previous caregivers, Two Tails Ranch had not told them. Of course anyone who has researched this would know full well that Sabu’s previous positive diagnosis for TB 10 years earlier is widely available on the internet from USDA documents posted by PETA in their media file series on circuses. By April of 2012 FOIA indicated that in fact Sabu did die TB+, but prior to that in February Zoos Matter was able to provide enough evidence so that the Zoo Board and CEO at the very least were required to allow the zoo vets to investigate this death and other possible TB deaths at PAWS. Despite these concerns in February of 2012 the zoo and the zoo board went ahead and signed a legal agreement with PAWS. PAWS claimed that Sabu died of severe genetic arthritis and the tissue cultures would take up to 8 weeks. They never willingly shared the tissue culture results; these were accessed via Freedom of Information. Even after the FOIA evidence which surfaced in April of 2012 indicated he died TB+ and with not one but two strains of TB they still claim he died “from euthanasia due to degenerative bone disease”. Evidence indicates that PAWS knew for some time that Sabu was actively infected again. In a blog post dated July 13, 2011 by a visiting sanctuary owner Karl Cullen he discusses how Sabu was under full quarantine and that he and staff had to wear protective masks and gloves. They knew full well Sabu was TB+ was early as the summer of 2011. This was months before council seized control of the Toronto Zoo elephants and made the decision to send them to PAWS promising that THERE WAS NO TUBERCULOSIS AT PAWS.
PAWS claim that Sabu had died from severe arthritis was basically a lie or at the very least not the whole truth. Advanced severe arthritis was obviously a symptom aggravated by his positive tuberculosis infection. When the FOIA was finally accessed in April of 2012 it was proven conclusively that Sabu died TB+. No media outlet called Zoocheck or the Councillors or PAWS out on why they had publicly maintained for so long there had been no TB at PAWS when it was clear and evident they had known for months that he was ill with the disease. That same FOIA indicated that another Asian elephant named Rebecca had died in January of 2011 TB+, again with not one but 2 strains of TB. Her second strain of TB was new to elephants and had no match in the global tuberculosis databases as per a search done by the CDC. By their own admission in the graphs included with the Dr. Cork report and in FOIA PAWS and their Vet Dr. Gai admit Rebecca’s treatments were ceased three years prior to her death (here pg. Pg.25/pg.2 of necropsy report)
Further FOIA indicates that prior to her death and the positive STATPAK reactions of the two herd mates exposed (Annie and Wanda) all trunk prior trunk washes and STATPAKs had been negative (here pg. 26-27). Dr. Gai admits that they had no idea Rebecca was TB+ until AFTER she died and that no staff wore any protective gear. The zoos own site visit report indicated this as they were not allowed to inspect 4 out of the five barns on site at PAWS. It was clear and evident that the disease prevention protocols at PAWS were in serious trouble and that our allegations and the concerns of senior zoo staff and vets were not unfounded. We were able to determine with common sense, research and then FOIA evidence that two elephants, Annie and Wanda had been exposed to Rebecca’s TB, Rebecca had not been in quarantine, again evidenced in FOIA from California State Health because PAWS had no clue she was TB+. As a result eventually Annie converted to active TB in June 2012. How is this NOT a tuberculosis outbreak? And how is this World Class Bio Security Protocols? According to Pat Derby’s own accrediting body GFAS they are world class.
Yes, they accredit themselves.
Through freedom of information requests and research we were able to prove that PAWS actually had a tuberculosis outbreak with TB transmission on site which included 3 elephants (3 that have been documented), the transmission was entirely their fault due to bio security protocol failure as they had no idea the source elephant was TB+ until after her death. They and their affiliates on council along with Zoocheck Canada who acts as PAWS agents here in Toronto lied outright to the media. Zoos Matter did the job City Council failed to do. They also engaged in a media campaign to disparage and malign the zoo and its staff to undermine staff motive for opposition, basically to turn people against the zoo and deflect the media from the real issue at hand, tuberculosis. The media willingly complied. Staff have been harassed and stalked on social media by activists who file complaints to the city and CEO if any staff say anything about this transfer publicly. Senior vet staff have also been threatened with job loss if they continue to fight or refuse to sign off on anything PAWS related. City Councillor Glen DeBaeremaeker even went so far as to encourage the senior vet staff at the zoo to resign if they felt they were being forced to engage in unethical activities. He said he would resign if it were him, we wonder why he has yet to resign considering the lack of ethics of forcing three healthy animals to a facility with a known disease outbreak simply to satisfy personal extremist dogma. Meanwhile while Zoocheck and Councillors had the media focusing on staff issues they were misleading everyone about tuberculosis at the sanctuary, sort of like how a magician says look closely at this hand while I trick you with the other hand.
Now that tuberculosis had been proven on site Zoocheck, PAWS and Councillors began claiming that the African herd was safe from TB, that the STATPAK tests and trunk washes for the LIVING elephants were clear. They were very careful to use the word “living”. Councillors, Zoocheck and PAWS were quick to state that although they previously hailed the STATPAK test as the gold standard in diagnoses of TB and that they were leaders amongst facilities with elephants using that diagnostic they quickly changed their tune when FOIA indicated positive Statpak reactions in Rebecca’s herd mates, they flip flopped and stated trunk washes were gold standard. Trunk wash is of course an unreliable test and this can be evidenced here and here (elephantcare.org), citing a case in Sweden and a TB outbreak where five elephants were affected. Of 189 trunk wash samples collected, only 7 were positive from the 5 elephants that were confirmed (on post mortem) to be infected with TB (Moller 2005, Moller 2006, Lewerin 2005). What is Gold Standard is a tissue culture, as we know trunk wash is only good if a) the sample is not contaminated with foreign substances and b) the animal in question is actually shedding the organism when the trunk wash is conducted (elephants shed the TB bacilli intermittently so it is hit and miss with more miss than hit). Furthermore it had been evidenced in the TB case of Rebecca that an infected animal can show a negative STATPAK result or the results can be misinterpreted for animals previously infected or treated and that trunk wash tests failed to diagnose TB at PAWS, claiming the Afrcian herd is clean means nothing based on the failed diagnostic history of their Asian herd. On an airing of the television program The Agenda Councillor Berardinetti admits she knew about the tuberculosis. Here is a link from the Live Chat file from TVO’s The Agenda with arguments and commentary by Zoocheck Canada’s Julie Woodyer, PAWS supporters vs Toronto Zoo supporters, well worth the read)
Quarantine Issues
When FOIA documents finally evidenced that in fact there was tuberculosis on site and that there had been on-site transmission PAWS, Zoocheck and Councillors began their media campaign claiming that the elephants in question had been in quarantine and that all proper procedures had been followed. In a presentation to the Toronto Executive Committee Meeting in November, 2012 Annie’s likely positive TB status and quarantine issues were brought forward by a deputant as well as evidence of the Africans and Asians sharing one barn and how it was logistically impossible to quarantine any of the elephants based on the availability of barn space. We had reviewed multiple videos, photographs, blogs, news stories, we left no stone unturned. They claimed the two affected Asians were in quarantine at a time when Sabu was still alive, we asked the question where? There was no available barn until Sabu’s death in January of 2013. With one barn for the Africans females, one for the Asians and the three bull barns all occupied until Sabu’s death they were simply out of barns. According to the Zoos Site Visit report there is no quarantine barn at Ark2000. According to that same report the zoo vets and staff were only allowed to inspect one out of the five barns on site.
Now that Annie is TB+ we imagine she is living alone, likely in Sabu’s old barn. You know, alone, a lone elephant like the kind of elephant Zoocheck promotes is being treated inhumanely because they are sad and lonely. In fact according to The Dr. Cork report despite be diagnosed as TB+ in June of 2012 Annie had still not been begun treatments by November 27, 2012, 6 months after her positive diagnosis. So not only was she living alone but potentially dying from tuberculosis. We made this public and not one activist organization had any problem with it. I imagine if a zoo did not treat an animal for 6 months Zoocheck would be outraged. People were certainly outraged when this recently happened in France. This news article mentions the one barn and quarantine of Tinkerbelle. Ruby did not have a proper quarantine, just 10 days after her arrival she was introduced to the African herd, she was able to touch the other Africans in the barn as soon as she arrived at Ark2000. Evidence of the shared barn can be found here and here.
Eventually zoo staff were denied second site visit by Pat Derby.
Considering they had no idea Rebecca was TB+ when she died and wore no protective gear and that Rebecca infected 2 other elephants (one of which is now TB+) and had no physical means to quarantine while Sabu was still alive (all 5 barns were being used) our concerns over bio security at PAWS grew with every passing day. It was in fact much more serious than we had possibly imagined. An extensive research project was underway to investigate the detailed histories of each elephant at PAWS. We focused on a particular African elephant named Ruby who had died three months after Rebecca with no cause of death determined and who had a high risk history of TB exposure. At the same time the zoo vet staff were demanding medical histories on the Africans and PAWS was not cooperating with these requests as evidenced in the Zoos Transfer status update on September 25, 2012. It was at this time PAWS and Zoocheck made some very public media statements accusing the zoo staff of undertaking unnecessary delays – unnecessary delays?
Asking for tissue cultures from a deceased African to determine its disease status at time of death is not unnecessary it is what any zoological professional should expect and demand. Not having tissue cultures done for Ruby was the height of unprofessionalism and there is no logical explanation as to why the cultures were not done. To date there has been no mention in the media about the missing cultures. Councillors made numerous claims that our zoo was motivated by pressure from the AZA not animal welfare, remember the zoo lost its accreditation due to governance issues. Basically the AZA felt our zoo had no control over the future and welfare of its animals and the AZA was correct. Under the guidance of CEO John Tracogna and Zoo Board Chair Joe Torzsok, pressured by City Council/Councillors/Zoo Board members we had now lost our AZA accreditation with the potential loss of CAZA and our government research facility accreditation looming. Councillors continued to make many claims in the media disparaging our zoo and its staff. Evidence via FOIA indicated these councillors again were being spoon fed statements by Zoochecks Julie Woodyer.
The zoo was finally granted access to the medical documents under strict guidelines outlined by Zoocheck, only the CEO could review them he could not take notes or make copies and Zoocheck’s Julie Woodyer had to be present, Woodyer even requested the meeting be videotaped. Again citing legal obligations to previous owners they did not want the information made public. We could not understand what previous owners of the African elephants were so concerned about. The LA Zoo’s TB outbreak was widely publicized, San Francisco’s TB troubles were also known. 71’s previous owner had passed away many years ago and Maggie was a lone elephant from Alaska. Eventually vet staff was allowed to review the documents as it was clearly ludicrous not to mention suspicious not to have veterinary staff review the documents. But it was certainly strategically advantageous for PAWS to maintain the facade of world class bio security protocols by preventing veterinary experts’ access to information which might undermine those world class claims. Eventual FOIA from the University of Calgary evidenced what the vets found in those reports
- A mediastinal bronchial mass in one of Rubys lungs. (here pg. 21-24)
- Ruby had been treated for TB as a precautionary measure at the LA Zoo (here Pg. 22)
- There were no tissue cultures done for Ruby or 71 (here Pg. 22)
The zoo demanded the tissue cultures on Ruby, PAWS stated they had no more medical documents to give. According to Zoo staff PAWS was uncooperative throughout the entire due diligence process as stated in the Zoo’s Elephant Transfer update released September 25, 2012. FOIA requests to USDA, California Fish and Game and California Health Department came up empty, proving that no tissue cultures were ever done on Ruby. Clearly if tissue cultures were done and TB was found and officially documented in their African herd PAWs would not currently be in receipt of the Toronto zoo elephants, they would not have been considered in the first place and likely would have been restricted by their local and federal agencies from integrating any new elephants into what is basically their financial life blood, their African herd at PAWS. Both their Asian and African herds would be considered high risk for tuberculosis. They would have no means to accept any new elephants of any species. FOIA indicated that PAWS had a human case of sero conversion to tuberculosis (here pg.12). Zoos Matter followed up and accessed the genotypes (and here) for the two current cases of human tuberculosis (as of January 2013) in Calaveras County. Those genotypes did not match any of the documented TB strains in PAWS’ elephants but they did match an elephant named Calle. We followed the elephant trail and easily connected Calle’s strain of TB to the African herd and to PAWS through two Asian elephants, Calle (deceased from tuberculosis) and Tinkerbelle (deceased complications from chronic foot infections).
Ruby had lived with an Asian elephant named Gita at the LA Zoo. After Gita died in June of 2006 Ruby was transferred to PAWS in May of 2007 where she lived in a shared barn with both the Asians and Africans until late 2009, all the female elephants shared this barn since 2004. Detailed reviews of dated photographs, videos and news articles and in PAWS and Pat Derby’s own words (and here) evidence this. LA Zoo had a TB outbreak from 1997-2000. Before living with Ruby Gita lived 2 other Asians, Annie (not PAWS Annie who is now TB+) and Calle. Both Annie and Calle died from tuberculosis. Annie died on March 22, 1997 from tuberculosis at the LA Zoo, Calle was transferred to San Francisco Zoo where she lived with an Asian named Tinkerbelle. Tinkerbelle was transferred to PAWS in November 28, 2004 and died just 4 months later from severe foot infections Calle died March 6, 2004 of tuberculosis at San Francisco Zoo in 2004. Pat Derby can be seen here handling Tinkerbelle without proper protective gear. One has to wonder with such compromised health issues why activists demanded that Tinkerbelle be transferred in the first place and not humanely euthanized at the zoo. One can only imagine that perhaps PAWS arrogance drove them to believe they could magically heal her. Nevertheless there are no tissue cultures for Tinkerbelle either. One other elephant came from the San Francisco Zoo, an African named Lulu who currently lives in PAWS African herd. Of the three remaining Africans at PAWS two are in the same age range as Toronto’s Thika. PAWS has claimed that our elephants will be their last. At some point that African herd will be down to 2 then 1, living a life of solitude. At the National Elephant Center there will always be family groups of elephants, they will never be alone or die alone.
Without Ruby’s tissue cultures PAWS cannot prove there is no TB in the African herd. Statpak tests have proven to be useless when animals have already been exposed or infected to TB (evidenced in Rebecca’s case) and trunk washes are notoriously unreliable. This is all evidenced by PAWS own experiences as all trunk washes for Rebecca, Annie and Wanda were negative (pg.26-27) even up until Rebecca’s death from tuberculosis. According to the Dr. Cork report and the information supplied to them by PAWS, the sanctuary has NEVER had a positive trunk wash result? How exactly did they diagnose Sabu? Somehow Rebecca’s STATPAK test was misdiagnosed as she would have had some kind of reaction due to her past history of exposure and treatment. Her STATPAK tests would have presented with positive reactions which must have been misinterpreted as residual from her previous diagnosis for TB back in 2002. One has to wonder if Ruby’s Statpak tests, due to treatment and exposure would have shown some kind of reaction that was also misdiagnosed. Imagine their panic when upon necropsy of Ruby they found a bronchial mass. Not having this cultured was irresponsible elephant management practise and evidence of bio security FAILURE. There can only be one explanation as to why cultures were not done and I will leave that up to you to evaluate.
The evidence of risks of tuberculosis within the African herd at PAWS is near conclusive. It can only be “near” as there are crucial missing pieces of medical information which would determine once and for all if the herd had been exposed; tissue cultures for both Ruby and 71. Toronto City Council refuses to listen to anything which might challenge their egos and dogma and our CEO is pandering to council to save his 200k a year job despite having the legal right according to the contract to say no on the grounds of tuberculosis. (Item 17). The entire senior professional staff at the Toronto Zoo is against this transfer and their professional authority has been overridden by politicians and animal rights groups. By October 2012 there were threats of legal action against the Toronto Zoo and a Swedish blogger and keeper/creator of the internet’s most comprehensive database on captive elephants worldwide had also been threatened with legal action by PAWS.
The report provided by Dr. Cork was potentially “misleading” based on subsection 11 of Canadian Federal CITES law WAPPRIITA , and a proper assessment should be conducted by CANADIAN Federal authorities or more neutral parties, on the grounds that the USDA sent two infected/exposed specimens to PAWS (by their own admission) and might not be the most impartial agency to conduct due diligence review. (Here)
The Health of Animals Act states that no person should conceal the existence of disease . There are instances where PAWS refused to comply with requests for more information (tissue cultures) and the failure to allow the Toronto Zoo vets access to the quarantined barns (here) as concealment of disease. We also have evidence of Councillors misleading the public in the media about tuberculosis at PAWS and going so far as to claim there was no TB at PAWs at a time when FOIA indicates there was.
From the get go it was stated by council and the zoo board that relocation to PAWS would require air transport, that air transport was the most humane mode of transport for such a long transport distance, 4200km give or take a few hundred for detours. It was never etched in stone, city motions and rulings do not say air transport only but it was verbally stated by Councillors and the Zoo staff, the Zoo Board and quoted in the media, city council meetings and in FOIA correspondence.
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