Decades of controversy over the elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo have intensified, even after Billy and Tina announced they were moving to the Oklahoma zoo, and even after they announced there would be more room for them to roam.
On Friday, LA residents sued to stop Billy and Tina from moving to the Tulsa Zoo, claiming they should be sent to Animal Sanctuary instead.
The lawsuit seeking an injunction from LA County Superior Court includes a declaration from singer Cher, who has defended for years on behalf of Billy and Tina.
Zoo attendees pass animal rights activist Peggy Beale. She protests in front of the Los Angeles Zoo to stop Billy and Tina’s elephant relocation.
(Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
“Billie and Tina spent time in captivity,” Cher said in the declaration. “They deserve the opportunity to live their lives in peace and dignity.”
Animal rights advocates have criticized Lazo for decades for holding elephants in relatively small enclosures. Other celebrities who gathered for the Elephant Cause include Lily Tomlin and the late Bob Barker.
Jewel, 61, and Shonji, 53, have left only Billy and Tina, who have lived in separate enclosures of about 6.5 acres of elephant habitat in recent years due to health issues that the zoo said are age-related.
Zoo officials have long defended the care they provide to elephants, and did not cite health issues when they announced their move to Tulsa Zoo in late April. Billy and Tina join five other Asian elephants.
On Thursday, before the City Council’s budget committee, Lazzo’s director and chief executive Dennis Verett said he believes Tulsa will provide a “environment where it can thrive” citing the social benefits of living with other elephants.
Animal rights activists protest in front of Lazo to stop the relocation of elephants Billy and Tina at the Tulsa Zoo.
(Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
The lawsuit filed by animal lover and longtime LA resident John Kelly, nominated Verett as defendant, outlines health issues that can cause elephants to suffer in captivity, including the “zoo,” a mental illness caused by confinement.
According to the lawsuit, Billy and Tina’s living conditions are “bad,” with little shade and hard sand that allegedly caused serious damage to their feet.
“No matter how big the zoo’s enclosure is, or if it’s expanded, it doesn’t matter whether you call it a sanctuary or an exhibition. It’s incredibly inhumane to them.”
Back to 2008, supporters expressed their suffering over Billy’s repeated head bobbing, a sign of brain damage, according to the animal defense that ranked Lazo No. 1 on this year’s “10 worst zoos of elephants” list.
Billy is 40 years old and Tina is 59 years old. Billy came to Lazo in 1989 when she was four years old, and Tina arrived at 44 in 2010. Asian elephants have a lifespan of about 60 years in the wild.
A spokesman for LA Mayor Karen Bass did not immediately provide comment Sunday. A zoo representative introduced the city’s lawyers’ office to the question. A spokesman for the office said he could not comment on the pending law.
LA City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, a longtime elephant advocate, raised a motion last month to suspend the relocation until the city council could consider the possibility of sending it to the sanctuary.
At the Budget Committee on Monday, Blumenfield urged Verett to provide a report that includes the costs and benefits of a move to Tulsa Zoo. He asked Verret to promise not to move the elephant until the city council reviews its report and can vote.
“What I can promise you is that I will always make decisions in the zoo that includes elephants in the best interests of the animals,” replied Veret, who was appointed then-Eric Garcetti in 2019.
Blumenfield again questioned Verret at the budget hearing Thursday, saying that the organisation’s last chance offered to pay to move Billy and Tina to the sanctuary.
Verret said there was no date for the transfer and noted that LA and Tulsa Zoos had not signed the agreement.
Kelly’s lawsuit also argues that the public and elected officials were locked out of decisions. At both budget hearings, Councilman Eunices Hernandez said Verett had the power to move elephants to Tulsa without council approval.
On Sunday outside Lazo, around 35 protesters, many of them held signs of “free Billy” from a group of groups for animals, chanting “Mother’s Day is not an excuse for animal cruelty.” They urged visitors not to enter the zoo.
“The drastic problem under the rug won’t remove it,” said LA resident Elvia Sedano, who protested at the zoo on behalf of the elephant for two years almost every Sunday. “So we’re coming back. We’re coming back until they do the right thing.”
Times staff writer David Zanizer contributed to this report.
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