Watch T.V. and Listen to Radio for Coverage of 1/1/09 CCFJ Press Conference

January 1, 2009

Channel's 4, 5, 8, 11, 23, 33 (every T.V. News Station in D/FW) and 90.0 FM/KERA Public Radio covered todays CCFJ News Conference. The Dallas Observer did not attend but asked for a copy of a press kit which included the HSUS and Bea Arthur's letters, as well as other documents I developed to support our case to retire Jenny to TES. Be sure to watch the t.v. news and listen to KERA today and tonight. KERA will run a couple of spots in the morning, also. FYI, I included my press release below. I very much appreciate HSUS and Ms. Arthur's support of Jenny in their letters. Thanks very much to all the Jenny supporters who showed up to leaflet at the Zoo today. You did a fabulous job of advocating for Jenny. You actions got the word out to many people today. We showed the Zoo and

City of Dallas that Concerned Citizens for Jenny is renewing our efforts to SAVE JENNY in 2009 by timing our conference for New Years Day. KERA also re-ran Lily Tomlin's interview on Think today, which was very nice for Jenny. Jenny needs each of you to commit to renewing your efforts to SAVE JENNY. Please email, telephone and fax the mayor, city council, parks and recreation and your own US Representative and Senator urging Jenny's retirement to TES. Be sure to watch a special feature on The Elephant Sanctuary tomorrow night on Katie Couric. Thanks and Happy New Year.Margaret Morinwww.concernedcitizensforjenny.net******************************For Immediate Release Contact: Margaret MorinDecember 31, 2008 Founder, Concerned Citizens for Jenny

The

appropriateness of elephants living in zoos is fast becoming a national

grassroots discussion and an enduring cause célèbre for more than

solely animal welfare activists. Since May, 2008, thousands

of ordinary citizens have telephoned and written the City of Dallas

urging the zoo to retire Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary (TES). Jenny’s plight continues to stir Dallas citizenry to action. At

the Adolphus Christmas Parade, Dallas children lined up for a chance to

sign a 40 x 30 inch home-made card created by Concerned Citizens for

Jenny (CCFJ) commemorating her December birthday. The card is inscribed “A Birthday Wish for Jenny . . . A Long, Happy Life at The Elephant Sanctuary”in the New Year. CCFJ plans to present the card to the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department.

On New Year’s Day, CCFJ will hold a brief press conference to address a recently published Science study

on the impact of zoo’s on elephant lifespan and the mounting evidence

that the Zoo’s objections to retiring Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary

are not founded in fact. After the press

conference, Dallas children will have another opportunity to add their

names to the hundreds of signatures, sentiments and drawings already

gathered for Jenny’s birthday wish for the New Year. January 1, 2009: Concerned Citizens for Jenny Press Conference The Dallas Zoo, on the lawn next to the Giraffe statue 11 AM Concerned Citizens for Jenny Press Conference January 1, 2009: Jenny’s Birthday Wish for the New Year Card Signing The Dallas Zoo entrance, by ticket booth 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM Since May, CCFJ has consistently advocated for retiring Jenny to the sanctuary. CCFJ charges that the Dallas Zoo has not met Jenny’s needs for 22 years and the planned 3.75 acre exhibit will not change that. At

TES, however, Jenny would have the opportunity to pick and choose her

companions from others of her own species and live as elephants are

meant to live, freely roam in peace on 300 acres of lush forests,

fields, and ponds. Since

CCFJ called Jenny’s sad living conditions to the attention of the

public, the Dallas Zoo has admitted that Jenny’s tiny exhibit is

inadequate to meet her needs. And, yet there

she stays. Jenny’s

retirement to TES is has drawn the support of celebrities, including

Lily Tomlin and Bea Arthur, who each wrote to the Dallas City Council,

as well as a growing list of elephant experts.

In a recent visit to Dallas, Born Free USA CEO and elephant rehabilitator Will Travers likened Jenny’s less than a ¼ acre exhibit to a prison cell. Dr.

Joyce Poole, regarded by many as the foremost authority on elephants,

has advocated for Jenny’s relocation to The Elephant Sanctuary. Other highly respected organizations have joined the call to retire Jenny.

“On

behalf of The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS), the nation’s

largest animal protection organization with more than 10,990,892

members and constituents (including 479,279 in Texas), I am writing to

urge the City of Dallas to send its remaining African elephant, Jenny, to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee,” wrote Wayne Pacelle, HSUS President to Mary Suhm, Dallas City Manager.

NOTE: Copies of Ms. Arthur’s letter and Mr. Pacelle/HSUS letter will be available at the press conference.

In December, 2008, a ground breaking study in the esteemed journal Science found that zoos may be the least safe place in the world for elephants. The

study of 4,500 elephants concluded that elephants in the wild live up

to three times longer than in zoos, even though elephants in zoos live

predator-free and receive regular veterinary care and a steady source

of food. "It's a very sobering study," agrees Ron Kagan, director of Michigan 's Detroit Zoological Society,

who oversaw the transfer of his zoo's two elephants to a California

sanctuary 5 years ago because of concerns about their well-being (excerpt from a 12/11/08 ScienceNOW Daily News interview).

Time Magazine was so taken with the study that its December, 2008 issue featured an article titled, “Free Dumbo! Zoos Are Bad for Elephants.” The Time article explored the sad plight of the world’s largest land mammal when confined in zoos and further remarked, “Zookeepers

and policymakers who aren't moved by all this suffering might instead

be convinced by the simple fact that it costs a fortune to keep

elephants so miserable. In the past 10 years, zoos have spent or

committed to spend about $500 million to build or upgrade enclosures

designed to improve the lives of 250 animals — but nothing so far

suggests that does much to improve captive elephants' health or

longevity. In Kenya , on the other hand, the wildlife

service has an annual budget of just $20 million to look after tens of thousands of elephants. What's more, while Asian elephants remain in jeopardy — with only about 60,000 of them left — cost-effective wildlife-protection programs have allowed the African elephant population to rebound to a robust 500,000. "African elephants are a conservation success story," says Georgia Mason, behavioral biologist and co-author of the study in a Time interview. That's true enough of much of the free population; not so much for the detainees.” In

today’s hard times, one must question the economic sense of keeping

Jenny at the Dallas Zoo, when she could retire at no cost to the city

to the peace and safety of the sanctuary. It costs in the hundreds of thousands annually to adequately maintain a single elephant in a zoo. The

City of Dallas plans to spend millions building a controversial 3.75

elephant exhibit to house up to five elephants, which critics contend

will still be inadequate to meeting Jenny’s needs. And, yet thousands of people are losing their jobs and homes, causing the tax base to inevitably shrink. Would

it not be much more fiscally responsible and forward thinking for the

City of Dallas to retire Jenny to TES and instead direct that money

into much needed civic maintenance and social services? Zoo elephant populations in North American zoos are declining every year. Infant mortality

is high. Premature mortality in adult elephants is high. Foot problems,

arthritis and abnormal behaviors are ubiquitous. Tuberculosis and

elephant herpes virus are entrenched and becoming widespread in Zoos. Zoos claim they're the experts and are doing everything right, but all of the evidence indicates otherwise.

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