DMN LTE Alert: Jenny on Billboard and Vote May 9th

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Please write a brief DMN LTE expressing your opinion about Jenny and the DMN article: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgihttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041509dnmetjenny.da52e2bc.htmlJenny the elephant stars in new billboard campaign

05:14 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 15, 2009

By JOANNA CATTANACH / The Dallas Morning News jcattanach

 

The plight of Jenny the elephant just got a lot bigger. About 14 feet by 48 feet, to be exact.

Concerned Citizens for Jenny, a group that wants the Dallas Zoo's

32-year-old elephant sent to a sanctuary, has posted six billboards in

the area, from Garland to Greenville Avenue. COURTNEY PERRY/DMN

Kinky Friedman appears on a new 'Save Jenny the Elephant' billboard on

southbound Central Expressway south of Fitzhugh Avenue.

The billboards differ slightly from one another, but each shows a photo

of Jenny, her trunk flung over a gray wall at the Dallas Zoo, with the

words “Please Help!†written beneath. It’s the latest

salvo in a yearlong effort by the organization to have Jenny moved from

the zoo to a sanctuary. This time, the group has

recruited country singer Emmylou Harris, author and singer Kinky

Friedman, and comedian Lily Tomlin to help pay for the billboards.

Those three stars are pictured, individually, on five of the six

billboards -- Friedman chomping on his trademark cigar, Tomlin in

costume as Ernestine, the telephone operator. A press conference at the Dallas Zoo this afternoon featured Ruth Buzzi, a star of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the TV comedy hit of the late 1960s and early '70s. Buzzi told reporters, "A great injustice has been done to the elephant named Jenny by the Dallas Zoo.â€

Reading from a prepared statement, she said Jenny was living in a

“prison cell†and deserved to be free and happy.

Margaret Morin, founder of the concerned citizens' group, read a

similar letter from Harris. Morin told reporters there isn’t a middle

ground on the issue. The zoo’s new $27 million "Giants of

the Savanna" exhibit, which will cover almost 11 acres and house up to

six elephants including Jenny, is inadequate, Morin said. “I don’t think we can compromise on an injustice,†she said. The billboards direct residents to the Web site savejennynow.com,

which lists Dallas City Council candidates' voting records and

statements concerning Jenny. The billboards encourage Dallas residents

to vote in the council election on May 9. “I think that Jenny is already a campaign issue,†said Morin. She was joined by the Rev. Ronald Wright of Dallas Commons, a civil rights organization.

Wright said his organization was concerned about the millions being

spent on the exhibit and promised to audit the zoo and possibly boycott

it if Jenny's living conditions aren't changed. “At its best, this is animal cruelty,†he said.

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

Jenny and her new elephant companion Gypsy are fine. “I think the real story here is the fact that Jenny is doing great,†said Siegel.

Inside the zoo, children surrounded Jenny’s yard, pointing at the large

elephant who lazed about, periodically turning her giant head to face

the crowd. Zoo officials say they’re frustrated by

misinformation being spread about Jenny and the new elephant exhibit

but that they don’t want to respond to the negative attention. They want to see the exhibit successfully open in 2010. “The focus should not just be on this one elephant,†said Siegel.

He said there are dozens of animals being added to the new mixed

species exhibit. He added that building it with voter-approved funds

“is a fantastic use of taxpayer money.â€