For Immediate Release
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Contact: Marianne Bessey, 610-733-1248
Attn:  News Desk  
 
Local Group Demands USDA Investigation of Inhumane Conditions at Pennsylvania Elephant Holding Facility
 
Undercover Investigation Revealed Former Philly Zoo Elephants Confined for Months on End in Cement Barn; Denied Free Access to Water

Philadelphia, Pa. – A local animal advocacy organization filed a formal complaint with the USDA yesterday, requesting an official investigation of a facility in Somerset, PA, housing elephants.  Kallie and Bette, elephants owned by the Philadelphia Zoo, are currently confined at the facility, along with Jackson, a bull elephant owned by the Pittsburgh Zoo. 
 
In its complaint, local group Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants (FPZE) alleges that an undercover investigation conducted earlier this fall revealed that elephants confined at the International Conservation Center (ICC), in Somerset PA, were kept in a cement barn for two months straight last winter.  The complaint also alleges that the elephants are denied free access to water for drinking or bathing and deprived of enrichment items.  The failure of the facility to provide the elephants free access to a source of water and a variety of enrichment items – things that the elephants received at the Philadelphia Zoo – causes significant stress and discomfort and constitutes a violation of the Animal Welfare Act, FPZE claims.  The USDA complaint and supporting video documentation are available from FPZE upon request. 

 Additionally, it appears that ICC officials misled the Philadelphia Zoo and others by repeatedly claiming elephants at the facility would be allowed access to areas outside of their pens.  In fact,  the undercover investigation found that the elephants have been continually confined in pens of one to three acres since their arrival in July 2009, and there are no plans to allow them access to any of the rest of the 724-acre property.

“The Philadelphia Zoo apparently is asleep at the wheel when it comes to Kallie and Bette,” said Marianne Bessey, director of FPZE.  “How much longer do these elephants have to suffer before the zoo does the right thing and sends them to a true sanctuary?”
 
Animal organizations criticized Kallie and Bette’s July 8, 2009, transfer to the Somerset facility for breeding, warning that the 28-year-old African elephants were already too old and that their lives would be endangered. The Pittsburgh Zoo has since determined that neither elephant is a candidate for breeding, yet they remain at the facility. Philadelphia Zoo Director Vik Dewan admits they could be sent to yet another zoo
 
Later today, local citizens will gather outside City Hall to encourage councilmembers to hold the Philadelphia Zoo accountable for the treatment of Kallie and Bette.  Citizens will also advocate for sending the elephants to a lifetime home at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California, home to 10 elephants from zoos and circuses, which offered Kallie and Bette a lifetime home at no charge over three years ago.. 
 
WHEN:            TODAY, November 17, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
WHERE:         Sidewalk in front of City Hall, 15th Street and Market
Please see www.helpelephants.com or www.ElesAngels.com for more information.
 
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