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Dear John,
The USDA recently uploaded an inspection report for the Commerford Zoo–a Connecticut-based traveling circus where an elephant named Minnie (pictured above) has been held in captivity since 1976.
As a self-aware, autonomous individual, Minnie should be roaming the forests of Thailand with her herd. She should be a mother, a grandmother, an aunt. She should be living a rich, complex elephant life. Instead, all the evidence suggests she’s been forced to spend most of her days literally behind bars [[link removed]] in a barren barn, alive in the barest sense of the word.
The takeaway from this latest inspection report is essentially the same as all the others: Minnie is still alive, but legally speaking, the USDA (the most powerful of the agencies tasked with oversight of her welfare) is again signing off on Minnie being deprived of her freedom.
TAKE ACTION FOR MINNIE → [[link removed]]
Minnie–along with Beulah and Karen, two other elephants held captive with her on the Commerfords’ property–was our client in our first elephant rights case. We concluded this litigation in 2020 because of the Connecticut courts’ complete unwillingness to engage with the substantive issues of the elephants’ case. The courts’ unwillingness continued even after Karen died prematurely at age 38 and Beulah collapsed and died at a fair as a result of a uterine infection the Commerford Zoo was aware she had when they transported her there.
To date, the powers that be have done nothing to help Minnie, whether the demands for an investigation and for her release to an elephant sanctuary were coming from us, from another organization, from a coalition of organizations, from area residents, or anyone else. Similarly, the Commerford Zoo’s words and actions over the years seem to indicate that they’re not at all interested in giving Minnie a better life.
Still, this latest inspection report, with Minnie still alive against all the odds, represents another opportunity to send a message to the Commerford Zoo, urging them to release Minnie to a sanctuary. Even if they’re unlikely to do anything, it remains important to speak out for Minnie and show that the freedom of elephants matters.
Send a message to the Commerford Zoo using this action alert [[link removed]] .
Thank you for your time and advocacy.
Courtney Fern
Director of Government Relations, the NhRP
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The NhRP is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation (Tax ID #: 04-3289466). It is solely through your donations that we can continue to work for the recognition and protection of fundamental rights for nonhuman animals.
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