More on Jenny

[Guest guest]

It is my hope to help the Dallas City Council to see that they need to stop the Zoo from transferring Jenny to Mexico, where she will be beyond our ability to protect her or advocate for her. Right now, the Zoo has the upper hand. We must take this to the court of public opinion and force them to change. I have to work today so I can not come to Dallas City Council meeting today, but

please spread the word among the animal advocates, if at all possible. Mexico is an extremely poor

move for Jenny, as no USA animal protection will apply.

Sanctuaries in the USA will take her. Hubris and self-interest are

guiding the Zoo's decision, not Jenny's best interest and well-being.

I will have more on this subject later, but wanted to get something out this morning. Thank you and my thoughts are with the Dallas Animal Ordinances. MargaretConcerned Citizens for Jenny

 

Dallas Zoo's lone elephant to move to Mexican wildlife park

 

 

02:20 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 24, 2008

By JOANNA CATTANACH / The Dallas Morning Newsjcattanach The Dallas Zoo will move its remaining elephant to a wildlife park in Mexico this fall.

Jenny, the 31-year-old African elephant, will move to the Africam

Safari Park, a 617-acre forested wildlife park located 80-miles

southeast of Mexico City, zoo officials said today.

There has been much speculation about Jenny's future since the death

of her companion KeKe, 39, who died in May of congestive heart failure.

Animal activists had requested Jenny be moved to a sanctuary to ensure

mental and physical well-being.

"Once these animals go out of the country, it's very difficult to

ensure they're going to get the care that they need," said Lisa Wathne,

a national spokesperson for PETA. The group plans to protest the move.

"We are appalled that the Dallas Zoo would send Jenny out of the

country to an unknown facility where she will not be protected by U.S.

Animal Welfare Act law. This move is not in Jenny's best interest,"

said Catherine Doyle, campaign director with In Defense of Animals,

based in San Rafael, Calif.

Ms. Doyle and Margaret Morin with the Dallas-based group Concerned

Citizens for Jenny were scheduled to meet with city council members

this afternoon to discuss the best decision for Jenny.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that they had this press conference today," said Ms. Morin of Plano.

Chuck Siegel, the zoo's deputy director for animal management, said

the decision to move Jenny was not prompted by protests by animal

activist groups.

"I would never make a decision about the welfare of an animal based

on those sorts of concerns," he said. "We had decided that we did not

want to put another elephant in our current exhibit."

After reviewing many options, zoo officials decided to place Jenny

at the Africam Safari Park, a place Mr. Siegel and other zoo staff have

visited before.

"It's a fantastic facility," he said.

Zoo staff will be preparing Jenny for her move, helping her to

become more at ease with the carrying cart that will take her to

Mexico.

Jenny will share a 4.9-acre elephant exhibit with one male and two female elephants and be monitored by six staffers.

The Dallas Zoo expects to acquire a giraffe in the coming months and

convert its elephant exhibit into an expanded giraffe habitat to open

next spring.

"Our plan is to still have elephants," said Sean Greene, the zoo's

community relations director. "Elephants will be at the Dallas Zoo. How

soon has yet to be determined," he said.

But Ms. Morin says the decision is bad for the city and bad for Jenny.

"The citizens of Dallas own Jenny," she said. "This should not be a unilateral decision on the part of the Zoo,"