Dear John, 

If the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society appreciated elephants, they would stop pretending captivity is for their own good.

If the Fresno Chaffee Zoo appreciated elephants, it would stop forcing them to breed so it could populate an exhibit.

If the Commerford Zoo appreciated elephants, it would stop saying it considers them members of their family when it has denied them freedom and family.

Happy #ElephantAppreciationDay to our elephants’ captors.

If the Bronx Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and the Commerford Zoo appreciated elephants, they’d choose to be part of the change by no longer imprisoning them and releasing Happy, Patty, Nolwazi, Amahle, Vusmusi, and Minnie to sanctuaries.

We fight for elephants’ right to liberty precisely because we can’t rely on those who imprison them–or the agencies supposedly responsible for enforcing already insufficient animal welfare laws–to do the right thing. And the elephants shouldn’t have to wait for this to happen because in many cases this day will never come.

Please help us create a better tomorrow for elephants by donating if you can today.

Thank you for caring about elephants and being in this fight with us, John.

For Happy, Patty, Nolwazi, Amahle, Vusmusi, and Minnie,

The NhRP