Dumba still needs us!

Time drags for Dumba… It has been a year since we found the elephant languishing at the back of the animal trainers’ property in the French department of Gard. It was 1 January 2021; she was kept prisoner in a tiny trailer and left to fight against the cold with temperatures below 0°c.

One year of rallying

We need to intervene urgently… we have moved heaven and earth to alert the public and the media, launched a petition, and reasoned with the mayor of Euzet-les-Bains who took the trainers’ side. We also sent letters to the region’s prefect and to the authorised representative in Alès and filed a complaint in order to obtain ownership of the elephant. However, despite the agreement of six independent experts attesting to her alarming state, the French authorities distinguished themselves by their inactivity. And Dumba’s ‘owners’ were able to escape to Germany peacefully.

Still in circus trainers’ hands

From now on, the elderly female is being kept in the Elefantenhof Platschow permanent circus near Hamburg. She has finally escaped from touring and training sessions that she has been enduring since being captured in Africa almost 40 years ago. Our investigators who diligently monitor her went back to see her. While other elephants are exploited between shows and popcorn, she has the privilege of not having to participate in acts. She can even take a few steps in a small enclosure at the back of a human-sized park and visitors don’t harass her. Is Dumba happy in view of all of this? Clearly not. Because she is still faced with isolation. Admittedly, she has other pachyderms surrounding her. But the enclosures separate them. So, it is alone, tragically alone, that Dumba’s days drag on.

Let’s offer her a better future!

Knowing that she is outside of our borders doesn’t mean that we will give up on improving her day-to-day life. Quite the contrary: proceedings are underway and we will fight until we get custody of her. Permanent circuses do not provide a satisfactory solution for the animals that they are keeping. Dumba should be cared for in a sanctuary with more space, surrounded by companions. We will fight until the end to obtain a peaceful sanctuary for her…

Translated from the French by Joely Justice