Billy the elephant has been imprisoned in North America’s worst zoo for 35
years. Don’t let him die behind bars. Act now to free Billy -- and make
sure all zoo elephants can live a life in dignity!
[ [link removed] ]Photo of Billy the Asian elephant in his Los Angeles zoo enclosure.
There's sand on the floor, trees in the background and a metal fence.
[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition
John,
Billy the elephant was just a baby when he was kidnapped from his jungle
home in Malaysia, and sentenced to a lifetime in captivity at the worst
zoo in North America. In the 35 years that he has lived at the Los Angeles
Zoo, he has been chained up, beaten with a bull hook, and subjected to
invasive sperm retrieval procedures for the zoo’s breeding program.
While the zoo has stopped physically abusing Billy, he still lives alone
in a tiny enclosure where he paces and bobs his head – clear signs of a
traumatized elephant in distress. And Billy is not the only example --
elephants across the U.S. live in compounds that are way too small for
them, dying horrible, pre-mature deaths.
But now, local activists convinced an LA City Council committee to vote in
favor of freeing Billy to a sanctuary. This could be the key to ensuring a
better life for ALL zoo elephants in the States! So let's ramp up the
pressure now and push the full City Council to vote to free Billy!
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition demanding that the Los Angeles City Council free
Billy the elephant NOW!
For years, celebrities like Cher, Lily Tomlin, Kim Basinger, and Bob
Barker have joined local activists’ call for Billy’s release. But ever
since the LA Zoo recently euthanized two elephants in one year, and Billy
suffered a painful foot disease for eight months before receiving care,
the cry for his release has reached a fever pitch.
Elephants are the largest land mammals on Earth, and in the wild they can
roam up to 80 kilometres per day over at least a thousand hectares.
Billy’s enclosure at the LA Zoo measures merely a quarter of that. Because
he isn’t able to to walk the distances his body was built for, Billy
suffers from chronic joint and foot problems – ailments that have led to
the premature deaths of many other elephants in captivity, as countless of
them live in enclosures that are way too small, and a far cry from what
they need.
By now, so many people have expressed concern for Billy's safety, that the
LA City Council has demanded that zoo officials conduct a study to
determine whether the zoo needs to make changes to how it cares for the
last remaining elephants.
[ [link removed] ]Los Angeles City Council: Free Billy -- a better life for elephants in
captivity everywhere!
[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition
Thanks for all that you do,
Lacey, Rosa, and the team at Ekō
More information:
[ [link removed] ]Elephant Deaths at L.A. Zoo Renew Calls for Gentle Giants to Be Moved
to Larger Sanctuaries
Los Angeles Magazine 02 February 2024
[ [link removed] ]After 2 elephants die at LA Zoo, City Council is looking into the
matter
Los Angeles Magazine 15 May 2024
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