Video: CBS News w/ Katie Couric Features Elephant Sanctuary. Cross Post Okay

January 4, 2009

CBS Evening News"Steve

Hartman Looks At What Difference A Couple Of Tons Makes - Or Doesn't -

For Two Old Friends" Click on link to see this wonderful broadcast.

January 2, 2009http://www.elephant s.com/media/ CBS_News_ 1_2_09.htmThis is where Jenny could retire, if only the Dallas Zoo would grow a heart (It's possible. Look at the Grinch). Elephants in Zoos live less than one-half of those in protected populations in the wild (Science, December 12, 2008). " A Zoo might be the least safe place in the world for

elephants." (Time Magazine, December, 2008). Jenny turned 32 in December, 2008. Even the Association of Zoos and

Aquariums admits that the average life span of elephants in one of their

Zoos is 34. Shouldn't it be clear to everyone that continued confinement in the Dallas Zoo is dangerous to Jenny's life?Jenny

has eked out a miserable existence in an antiquated 1/4 acre prison

cell for 22 years. The Zoo only recently publicly admitted to the

inadequacy of Jenny's exhibit after CCFJ repeatedly brought it to the

attention of the public. But, there Jenny stays and will stay for a

long time. The 3.75 acre exhibit the Zoo plans to complete in 2010 will be inadequate for sentient creatures who need to roam up to 30 miles a day to stay healthy ... if she lives that long. And, what about the fiscal responsibility of the City of Dallas spending $30 million in tax payer dollars on an elephant exhibit that does not meet the needs of elephants in these tough economic times, when people are loosing their jobs and homes and Dallas

is laying off teachers because they can't pay them? This is a

legitimate question and the City Council and Dallas Parks and

Recreation should be called to account. I also have to wonder if maybe Jenny would be free today if more realized that although the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) shelters behind the visage of conservationism and seeks to blend in with local community services, the AZA is

just a business whose assets are animals. Maybe then, AZA member Zoos

would not be able to get away with treating elephants like caged

commodities without consideration of the needs of the individual? Special thanks to Bea Arthur and Wayne Pacelle, President of Humane Society of the United State

for joining Lily Tomlin in urging the City of Dallas to do the right thing

and retire Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary.Congratulations to The Elephant Sanctuary (http://www.elephants.com/mediaCenter.php) for being the ideal place for elephants to live in North America.

CCFJ members dedicates ourselves to securing justice for Jenny by

seeing that she sets foot in The Elephant Sanctuary in 2009.Cross Post Okay.Thank you. Margaret MorinFounder, Concerned Citizens for Jenny