Dear John,

The fight to #FreeHappy has gained incredible support and momentum in the past year. Esteemed publications such as National Geographic [[link removed]] , TIME Magazine [[link removed]] , The Atlantic [[link removed]] , and The New Yorker [[link removed]] have published feature stories on her plight and our work to have her legal rights recognized. In her piece for The Atlantic , award-winning historian Jill Lepore called our litigation on Happy’s behalf “the most important animal-rights case of the 21st century.” ⁣Also, this week In Defense of Animals named the Bronx Zoo one of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants [[link removed]] for the tenth time. In response, comedian and actor Ricky Gervais and musician Moby are personally calling on the Bronx Zoo [[link removed]] , and all the zoos listed, to release the elephants imprisoned at their facilities to accredited sanctuaries.

This month also marks the 45th year of Happy’s imprisonment at the Bronx Zoo. During the past 45 years she has been confined to a one-acre lot in New York City, a wholly unnatural and inappropriate environment for an elephant. The past 16 years she has been alone, without the necessary companionship of other elephants.

After almost a lifetime in captivity, Happy deserves to be freed from her imprisonment at the Bronx Zoo and sent to an elephant sanctuary.

Science and human experience make clear that elephants are autonomous animals. They are cognitively, emotionally, and socially complex beings who have the capacity to exercise free will and make choices about how to spend their days and live their lives, just as human beings do. Forcing an elephant like Happy to live alone in a small unnatural environment, where she is prevented from exercising free will and engaging in her innate behaviors, causes physical and emotional suffering.

It’s time for the Bronx Zoo to send Happy to an elephant sanctuary where she can live freely with other elephants in an environment that is similar to her natural habitat.

Actions of the Day:

1.
Complete
this
action
alert
[[link removed]]
to
urge
the
Wildlife
Conservation
Society’s
new
ex-officio
trustees
to
use
their
position
to
help
#FreeHappy
by
publicly
calling
on
the
Bronx
Zoo
to
send
her
to
an
elephant
sanctuary.
2.
After
completing
the
action
alert,
tweet
at
the
Bronx
Zoo
and
Wildlife
Conservation
Society
asking
that
they
#FreeHappy.
A
sample
tweet
is:
“Happy
has
spent
45
years
imprisoned
at
the
Bronx
Zoo
in
a
barren
1-acre
enclosure
in
NYC.
The
past
16
years
she
has
been
alone
without
the
necessary
companionship
of
other
elephants.
It’s
time
for
the
@BronxZoo
and
@theWCS
to
#FreeHappy
to
an
elephant
sanctuary.”
You
can
also
find
sample
tweets
and
graphics
on
this
blog
post
[[link removed]]
.
Additionally,
you
can
tweet
out
the
action
alert
and
news
articles
with
the
hashtag
#FreeHappy.
3.
Read
and
share
the
#FreeHappy
campaign
page
[[link removed]]
on
the
other
ways
that
you
can
help
Happy.

Note: The social media action items are for Twitter. If you do not have Twitter or would prefer to advocate on another social media platform, you can help by sharing our action alert [[link removed]] and blog [[link removed]] on Facebook.

Thank you!

Courtney Fern
Director of Government Relations, the NhRP

DONATE NOW » [[link removed]]


The Nonhuman Rights Project
5195 NW 112th Terrace
Coral Springs, FL 33076
United States
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