For Immediate Release: July 27, 2009
TODAY's Media Tour of Pittsburgh Zoo's International Conservation Center:
Elephant Breeding-Holding Facility Is NOT A Sanctuary
Sanctuary Associations Forbid Bullhooks, Breeding and Temporary Housing of Animals
Philadelphia, Pa. – Today, as the media tours the Pittsburgh Zoo's breeding-holding facility referred to as the International Conservation Center (ICC) to view the two elephants from the Philadelphia Zoo, local group Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants urges all media to report the facts that the ICC is not a sanctuary and that the sanctuary associations in the United States forbid ICC practices including the usage of bullhooks, breeding of animals and serving as a holding facility.
The Association of Sanctuaries and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries are non-profit associations representing sanctuaries both domestically and internationally which have independently established minimum husbandry requirements and stated unequivocally that sanctuary facilities are:
· forbidden from using bullhooks (a weapon resembling a fireplace poker that is used to control elephants through fear and pain) or any similar device to manage elephants
· forbidden to breed animals
· forbidden to act as a holding or temporary-housing facility (unless in life-threatening circumstances); sanctuaries must commit to providing lifelong care and housing
Media reports have inaccurately referred to the breeding-holding facility as a "sanctuary" despite the differing goals and opposing philosophies of sanctuaries and the Pittsburgh Zoo's facility. At sanctuaries, animals are allowed free access to hundreds of acres and they have the choice of activities and friends. At the breeding-holding facility, the animals are kept in small pens and pain-inflicting devices such as bullhooks are used to dominate them and make them obey. In addition, sanctuaries offer the stability of a lifetime home; the breeding-holding facility is an extension of the zoo industry where animals are temporarily stored between displays or bred to provide more animals for exhibit.
Bette and Kallie, 27-year-old African elephants, were moved from the Philadelphia Zoo on July 8, 2009. For the past 19 days no photos, video or access has been provided to the media regarding the elephants’ transition to the temporary housing facility. In contrast, elephant Dulary's move from the Philadelphia Zoo to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee in May 2007 was documented by a CBS news camera crew who videotaped Dulary's steps off the trailer, meeting her new friends and exploring her new forever home where she now has free access to hundreds of acres of natural habitat to wander around at her leisure.
Over two years ago, the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a 2,300-acre refuge in California with the space and natural conditions necessary for elephants to thrive, offered to take the then-three African elephants at no charge (52-year-old elephant Petal has since died, collapsing in her cement stall last June). Zoo Director Vik Dewan refuses to send the elephants to the spacious sanctuary, opting instead to send them to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s breeding-holding facility. Zoo officials have previously stated plans to first breed Kallie and Bette with a bull elephant, and then use artificial insemination - an extremely invasive and painful procedure for elephants. For more information: www.elesangels.com .
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