Dear John,

We’ve learned the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the Bronx Zoo where our client Happy is held alone in captivity, will have an Interim President and CEO starting Oct. 8th. You can help #FreeHappy and #FreePatty (the other elephant held alone in captivity in the Bronx Zoo) by using this form to send a message to Robert Menzi, urging him to send them to sanctuaries and follow through on the Bronx Zoo’s 2006 pledge to close the captive elephant program for good following the deaths of one or more elephants (which happened in 2018 when Maxine was euthanized). 

Meanwhile, the legal fight to free Happy continues as we wait for New York’s highest court to rule on our motion asking it to reconsider the legally wrong decision it issued in June. We expect the Court to rule any day now. Regardless of what happens next, the two powerful dissents will help us help elephants and other nonhuman animals for years to come, just as dissents have done in other movements for fundamental rights. NhRP Staff Attorney Jake Davis explains how here.

Also, a group of dedicated New York activists who were with us in Albany for Happy’s historic hearing have taken up the local grassroots campaign to free Happy and Patty by holding monthly protests at the Bronx Zoo. To join their next protest on Oct. 16th, visit their Facebook event page or email [email protected]. 

In other NhRP news:

• The NhRP legal team is growing! We’re hiring a Litigation Program Director to serve as our number two litigator under NhRP President Steven Wise. Learn more and share the news here.

• “People think differently about animals now ... The fact that the Court even took [Happy the elephant’s] case is a sign that we have come to a new day.” Reverend Canon Dr. Patrick Malloy discussed Happy’s plight as part of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s Feast of St. Francis and Blessing of the Animals celebration this past Sunday. Watch his remarks (beginning approximately 35 minutes in) here. 

• A moving new documentary tells the story of Corky, the world’s longest-held captive orca, and offers hope for a future where orcas are no longer deprived of their freedom. Learn more about the film in this guest post by director and NhRP supporter Christine Caruso.

• NhRP Staff Attorney Monica Miller recently discussed our mission and work on the Jamie All Over podcast in an episode titled “The Elephant in the Courtroom.” Listen here. 

• “Welfare regulations are insufficient to respond to what we know about other animals, their lived experience, and their capacity to suffer. Only a rights-based approach questions the foundational morality and legality of using animals in the first place.”⁣⁣ In a new essay published by Aeon, Dr. Lori Marino reflects on our legal fight to free Happy. Dr. Marino is a neuroscientist and an expert in animal behavior and intelligence. She’s also the founder and executive director of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy and president of the Whale Sanctuary Project. Read her essay here. 

Thank you for helping us change the world for nonhuman animals, John. Have a great weekend!

Lauren Choplin
Communications Director, the NhRP