News Archive - Page 123 of 146

A milestone victory against experimentation on macaques at the Max Planck Institute

A milestone victory against experimentation on macaques at the Max Planck Institute
23.02.2018
Germany
A milestone victory against experimentation on macaques at the Max Planck Institute
Animal testing

It took almost four years for the preliminary investigation to result in a judgment and sanction for the researchers-abusers. The German public prosecutor has sentenced three researchers from the Max Planck Institute (IMP) in Tübingen (Germany) aimed at our joint complaint. The court found that the pain and suffering of these experimented animals was not kept to an absolute minimum. It’s a euphemism, one of them died from the effects of these invasive and violent tests! This condemnation is a victory in this closed world, but does not compensate for the extreme suffering that these intelligent and sensitive beings have undergone.

For seven months from 2013 to 2014, Cruelty Free International, One Voice’s partner in the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE), in collaboration with the German association Soko Tierschutz, infiltrated one of IMP laboratories.

Watching the images filmed on site, we can only feel moved by compassion for these little macaques: we are witnessing abominable acts of torture (trephination and implantation of electrodes in the brain, manipulation with collars and injections), held inside plastic tubes from which only the head comes out, deprivation of water …). It’s simple: one wonders how such methods are scientifically and morally acceptable.

These monkeys are our compatriots!

What’s more, learning that eight of them were born in French parks, Planète Sauvage and Savane Nature, we have never stopped denouncing these inhuman and degrading practices for our cousins that are so close to us. We gave them a name, of which was reduced to “serial numbers” or tricked by mocking researchers using nicknames. The frail Stella (pictured) died of an infection at the very beginning of the experiments. Leah, Hugo, Tom, Lisa, Max, Mila and Lucie have all continued to undergo atrocious experiments.

Where are they?

Our campaign was the reason for the closure of the laboratory. Little primates were, as always when they do not die, still “profitable”, that is to say sent to other laboratories, to undergo further tests. Not knowing what the IMP had done with them or where they had sent them, since transparency is not the policy of this medium, we filed a request for access to information rights in July 2017. A laboratory in Belgium admitted to having received five primates, on which other experiments are still being perpetrated…

Let’s free them!

We continue to fight for their return to France and to be entrusted to us. They must be saved from this hell and set free into sanctuaries, where they will finally be entitled to a dignified existence! Jane Goodall joined our call for their release.

Let’s ban animal testing on monkeys.

With our British and German partners (CFI and Doctors Against Animal Experiments), we obtained at the time, thanks to a vast international campaign and your mobilization in France, more than 90000 signatures demanding the abolition of experiments on non-human primates.

Let’s continue to fight in memory of Stella, for Leah, Hugo, Tom, Lisa, Max, Mila and Lucie, and for the stopping of animal experimentation on primates! The experimental protocols they undergo are barbaric, nothing justifies them.

Crédit photo: Cruelty-Free International/Soko Tierschutz

Humiliation for the circus, the court affirms our right to defend Maya!

Humiliation for the circus, the court affirms our right to defend Maya!
22.02.2018
France
Humiliation for the circus, the court affirms our right to defend Maya!
Exploitation for shows

The judge has taken the side of the freedom of speech for the defence of animals!

On February 13th, we were put on trial by the circus that owns and exploits Maya. The circus advocated censorship, forbidding us to defend her, demanding not only our silence, but our public apology.

Not fulfilling our mission was out of the question, we had to do everything in our power to defend the animals!

Justice has proved us right.

For several weeks, Maya was nowhere to be found, and our letters to the circus were left practically unanswered. They allowed the rumour to spread that she was dead, while they alone could dispel the doubt.

At the hearing, we learned that Maya was alive. The veterinary inspection requested by the Prefect had taken place the day before, and the circus had had her abscess treated at the hindquarters a few days before. We had raised the alert about this growth in October!

But a priori, nothing has been done for her feet, while her posture shows us in a blatant way that it is from there that she physically suffers the most! She gathers her feet under her, to make up for her weight from the back to the front and tries to relieve them by lifting them one after the other.

When we know that the vast majority of elephant health problems come from their feet, we can only worry about such a lack of knowledge. All the elephants at this circus were filmed trampling in their excrement, because they were stuck on the spot, we even filmed Maya drinking from a garden hose on the ground!

Maya’s stereotypical behaviour is also very worrying, it is related to her pain, but also to her impossibility to walk, an imperative natural need for elephants. Let us repeat, elephants are made for walking and the richness of a group life, and in circuses their mobility is all the more limited and this all year long. To this must be added the perpetual truck journeys, on winding roads that places great demands on the elephant’s feet and legs.

We will soon know if this veterinarian has taken into account her well-being as a whole or if he has focused only on the health aspect, as have the veterinarians of the circus so far.

During the hearing, the circus attorney repeatedly showed that he did not know the anatomy of an elephant and made use of bad faith as a specialist.

Selected extracts:

« Salières (temporal gland area) are towards the flanks » while in fact they are above the temples;

« Abscesses appearing on the hindquarters are usual past 50 years » while they are actually due to abuse.

« Maya is living in this circus, and not captive, she is part of the family, and is not considered a work tool … » So, she can leave when she wants, right?

« All studies show that an elephant lives longer in captivity than in the wild … » For us, a life of detention and exhibition is not a dignified life. In nature, they must be protected, and in captivity they must be released!

We have other actions planned for her in 2018, it is time that Maya get a little respite, and to be helped, this is a priority of her requirements! We also file a complaint against the ill-treatment suffered by Nelly and Brigit, the other two elephants held by this circus. These elderly and suffering elephants deserve, like all the others on this planet, an elephant life, not a Circassian life. They will not silence us!

Deliberate: circus tries to camouflage itself, One Voice will continue to defend the elephant Maya

Deliberate: circus tries to camouflage itself, One Voice will continue to defend the elephant Maya
22.02.2018
Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin
Deliberate: circus tries to camouflage itself, One Voice will continue to defend the elephant Maya
Exploitation for shows

The judge of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Strasbourg has ruled, One Voice’s freedom of expression is safe, for the protection of animals.

We file a complaint against the family that owns this circus, against the living conditions unworthy of Nelly and Brigit, the other two elephants that they continue to hold.

On February 13^th, One Voice was summarily summoned to the TGI of Strasbourg by the circus, which owns and operates Maya, a 50-year-old Asian elephant.

The intension here is to harm by muzzling the association One Voice. Arielle Moreau Lawyer for One Voice

Indeed, the circus demanded the withdrawal of any representation of the elephant on the website of the association, its social networks, leaflets and signs during events. In other words, they demanded that publicly defending Maya becomes illegal. They also demanded an apology published in the regional daily newspaper appearing where the circus headquarters is registered.

For several weeks, the circus let rumours circulate that Maya was dead, by hiding her, refusing to answer the letters of the association, telling them of their legitimate rights, whereas they alone had the opportunity to dispel the doubt. Using bad faith and false pretences, the lawyer tried to turn the situation around for the benefit of his clients, insinuating that One Voice spread the rumour, while she did everything to stop it.

At the hearing, the association learned that Maya was alive, that the veterinary inspection requested by the prefect of Lot-et-Garonne had taken place the day before, and that the circus had had an abscess treated on the back of the elephant before this inspection. Nothing has been done for her feet, however, as her posture blatantly shows that it is from here that she physically suffers the most. She picks up her feet from under her, to make up for her weight from the back to the front. We will know soon if the veterinarian mandated by the authorities has taken the measure of the distress of Maya in addition to her pain.

The appeal lodged for Maya by One Voice at the Administrative Court of Bordeaux is still ongoing and the complaint for acts of cruelty allowed the opening of an investigation. To this will be added the complaint of the association for two other elephants of the same circus, Nelly and Brigit, detained like her for many years, also stored in truck trailers as working tools, and also presenting disturbing signs of stereotypy. One Voice reminds that the place for Maya at the sanctuary Elephant Haven (in Limousin) has been reserved by the association since October 2017 and to which the association made a significant donation in 2016 for the purchase of the land.

Share on

Kenzo was killed with blows from a club!

Kenzo was killed with blows from a club!
20.02.2018
Kenzo was killed with blows from a club!
Domestic animals

An ordeal of unrecognisable violence. Kenzo, a little cat who loved to walk in his garden, lost his life in late January under the blows from the neighbour’s son-in-law.

Kenzo shared for eleven years a life with a discreet couple, this tiny cat barley just two kilos.

On Monday morning, Kenzo’s owner hears a noise coming from the hedgerow adjoining the two properties, ranting accompanied by the barking of the neighbour’s dog. The owner leaves his house and approaches the hedge. He sees his neighbour hitting the hedge with sticks. Asking the neighbour what was happening, he gets a vague answer from him even though he seems to be moving away.

A few minutes later, with a bad feeling, Kenzo’s family returns to the hedge, the neighbour is back, continually hitting something. In reply to their questions, he answers that it is a rabbit that he is hitting. It is then that they see this individual dispose of Kenzo onto a pile of wood while holding it by the tail.

When eventually arriving at the vets nothing could be done to save Kenzo, whose head had almost exploded under the blows. The next day, the murder weapon will disappear up in smoke, burned along with the rest of the pile of wood…

The neighbour was relentless when he was hitting Kenzo with his club and of this under the barking of his dog, the same barking that usually drove him away. But yesterday, he could not escape the cruelty of this man. A few minutes of stalking and brutality that probably must have seemed like hours…

Our lawyer immediately filed a complaint for acts of cruelty on behalf of One Voice, SPA Loire Atlantique, and the family of Kenzo that we provide our support. For Kenzo, justice will pass.

One Voice’s fight for Samba

One Voice’s fight for Samba
20.02.2018
One Voice’s fight for Samba
Exploitation for shows

For the last 15 years, One Voice has been fighting for the release of the elephant Samba (or Tania), who after being captured in Kenya, was incessantly exploited in circuses. Through tireless advocacy work, One Voice hopes to grant her the dignity she deserves with a peaceful retirement.

2002: A sad encounter

Today Samba is 15 years old. Yet, she was just a baby when poachers captured her in Kenya after killing her parents. Soon after, she was sold to a trainer who used a whip to force her into submission: a One Voice investigator captured images of her being made to walk on her knees and pretending to die at the sound of a gunshot. The images are now being used as part of a campaign against exploiting animals in circuses.

2003: Abuse and crying children

On May 20, 2003, Samba’s trainer physically punished her for refusing to fake her own death during a performance in the Gard region of France. Luckily a group of children in the audience begged him to stop and their mother immediately notified One Voice.

On May 23^rd, the association filed a complaint for cruelty, demanded that Samba be withdrawn from the circus and placed in a more suitable location where she could socialize with other elephants. The ministry, the prefecture, and veterinary services all were alerted to her situation. Muriel Arnal wrote to the President of the Republic Jacques Chirac and the minister of Agriculture who claimed that Samba did not appear to be mistreated. In response, One Voice began distributing broadcasting petitions-cards in June.

On September 10, the association organized an assembly in Paris attended by the elephant specialist, Professor Pierre Pfeffer. 40,000 petitions-cards were then delivered to the Department of Ecology. Helmut Pechlaner and Harald Schwammer, veterinarians specializing in elephants, were contacted to provide their objective opinions regarding the unnatural stunts Samba was forced to perform: “(…) such positions could injure joints and intervertebral discs in adult elephants, as well as crack their nails. As for the balance exercises, those can cause mobility issues in the elbow and knee joints.” With all of this evidence-based support, One Voice was finally able to launch a press campaign.

2004: Samba becomes Tania

When the circus took on a new name, Samba’s name also changed to Tania. At this same time, pressure from the authorities’ campaign and public mobilization intenisified.

In January, One Voice published a report on circus elephants, focusing especially on Samba’s case. The “Samba kit” which contained posters, badges, flyers was also made available to activists.

In June, One Voice organized a huge demonstration in Marseille in an attempt to challenge the Prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, where the circus was registered. Animal rights organizations such as GAIA, Animaux en Péril, Association Stéphane Lamart, and important figures such as veterinarian Marie-Claude Bomsel and director/producer Jacques Perrin, were present. Nevertheless, the prefect refused to open discussions with One Voice.

Over the course of the summer, supporters sent out letters to all the representatives and senators of France, several of whom are involved in the departments of Agriculture and Ecology and the Ministry of Justice. Additionally, we contacted all of the mayors who presided over seaside resort towns and informed them of the dire situation animals like Samba faced in circuses. However, One Voice’s pleas remained unanswered.

In October, One Voice bought out pages in weekly newspapers and used images from our November investigation to alert the public to Samba’s plight.

2005: Things go south for Samba

Dr. John Knight, a veterinary consultant, specialist in animal welfare, and the author of our report “Wellness and safety in circuses”, wrote up an extensive report on Samba, concluding three years of research and investigation. His findings indicate that Samaba’s vital needs are not being met: she remains completely emaciated and dehydrated. In August, the report was submitted to the Ministry of Ecology and then made public in November.

2006: Samba waits

One Voice’s investigators continued to keep track of Samba. Another captive elephant in France named Vicky was released, creating an opportunity to refocus public attention on Samba.

2007: Demonstration in front of Ministry of Ecology

On September 12, Claire Daveu, the Deputy Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Ecology, received Muriel Arnal and Daniel Turner who gave him the 128,000 petition cards that they had collected since the beginning of the campaign. For the occasion, a demonstration was organized outside of the Ministry: 6000 leaflets describing Samba’s story were distributed by activists.

2008: The action continues

Information tables were set up in many cities in an effort to raise awareness about animal exploitation in circuses: the campaign slogan read “Do not abaondon Samba”.

2010: The Committee’s launch

One Voice set up a committee for Samba, and all other enslaved elephants, with the goal of ending elephant exploitation in shows. A chart on elephant sentience (only available in french) was published and disseminated to the public to raise awareness concerning the repercussions of confinement and isolation. In August, a yearlong campaign was launched. Additionally, One Voice led a circle of silence in Paris and sent letters to the Ministry of Ecology and Max Aucante, Samba’s trainer, as well as European deputies Lionel Luca, Muriel Marland-Militello, and Perrin Geneviève Gaillard, asking for their support which they willingly granted.

2011: Silent mobilization for Samba

By June 2011, the campaign was in full swing. Lots of letters were sent and the campaign received the support of many members of parliament. Max Aucante, Samba’s trainer, could not be tracked down.

In August 2011, another circle of silence was organized for Samba in Strasbourg. It was a huge success and created an opportunity to distribute more petition-cards demanding Samba’s release.

2012: Samba situation goes from bad to worse

One Voice attempted to call attention to Samba’s plight by publishing booklet that compares a life in the wild versus one in captivity, aimed at children and students. It features unnerving photos captured by our investigator in March: Samba appears very thin and has trouble moving.

2013: The drama

On September 8^th, 2013, Samba escaped from the circus installed in Lizy-sur-Ourcq (77) and accidentally killed a man. While the incident was tragic, it is not uncommon or surprising for animals to act out violently when they are desparate: her living conditions are a far cry from meeting minimal welfare and safety criteria. Soon after, One Voice finds a sanctuary in the wild for Samba.

2014: A disappointing trial

However the court trial following the episode spared Samba but did not liberate her, meaning her trainer will continue to exploit her. Soon after, One Voice published a report (only available in french) regarding the fate of circus elephants. Despite the fact that she has performed in 8 allegedly reputable locations across France, none of the detention facilities meet the bare minimum for welfare standards. This of course means that both the safety of the elephants and the audience are still at stake.

2017: An unprecedented procedure

In early May 2017, One Voice applied to the Comptroller General of places of deprivation of liberty for the transfer of Samba, four other elephants and a hippopotamus, due to the unworthy conditions of her detention. However, this independent authority ruled that the animals were not concerned by these protection measures.

One Voice will not give up the fight. Our investigators still keep track of Samba and our activists continue to distribute the booklet telling her story.

Our ongoing legal actions to release wild animals from circuses

Our ongoing legal actions to release wild animals from circuses
20.02.2018
Our ongoing legal actions to release wild animals from circuses
Exploitation for shows

One Voice is more than ever determined to end the slavery of wild animals in circuses. Already engaged in actions on the ground, One Voice increases the administrative and legal steps to follow-up on animal’s cases against the circuses and their illegal actions. Here are our most recent actions.

Every day, One Voice asks the competent authorities for many documents: prefectural control reports, prefectural authorizations, capacity certificates, accident registers, etc. But it regularly runs into a wall of silence, forcing One Voice to summon the Commission of Access for the administrative documents and to enforce the right to communicate and try to obtain the requested documents.

We lodged a complaint of ill-treatment against the circus William ZAVATA, while he was parading with his felines on April 28^th , 2016, in the commune of Creutzwald and using a truck with a loud speaker, which is contrary to Article 17 of the decree of 2011 on the conditions of detention of wild animals in circuses. The complaint was forwarded to the public prosecutor for the Republic of Paris, then filed for lack of sufficient evidence on October 20^th2016 by letter of November 2nd 2016. One Voice requested a copy of the investigation file and it turned out that the file only contained our complaint …

On May 19th 2016, a complaint of ill-treatment was lodged against the La piste aux étoiles circus during the occasion of the grand parade using sound at the Boeuf Villé Carnival. The latter took place Sunday April 3rd 2016 in the town of Montlucon, with camels, dromedaries and elephants on trailers. This complaint has also been closed.

On May 12th 2017, One Voice asked the agriculture and environment ministers to rescind the 2011 decree on animal holding in circuses. The request is still being processed and if One Voice does not get an answer, the Council of State will be seized before September 12th.

The Controller for places of deprivation of liberty was seized at the beginning of May for a request for transfer of the elephants Lechmee, Kamala, Mina, Maya and Samba and a hippopotamus Jumbo, due to the unsuitable conditions of their detention. This independent authority however considered that the animals were not covered by these protective measures.

An application for interim relief was also filed to free Lechmee, Kamala and Mina, but the judge of the Toulouse Administrative Court dismissed the request on 22nd May 2017, considering that the laws protecting animals could not be considered as fundamental freedoms…

At the same time, One Voice brought to the Departmental Population Protection Directorate claims aiming at cancelling the opening permits for the owners holding Samba, Maya, Lechmee, Kamala, Mina and Jumbo. Without any answer, appeals will be brought to the administrative courts with effect from 12th July 2017, based on the superior interests of the animals and their ability in respect of sensitivity / sentient capacity.

An application for a referred suspension will also be made for Jumbo and Lechmee, Kamala and Mina, for whom the conditions of detention are contrary to the 2011 decree.

A complaint of ill-treatment was also filed against the circus holding Jumbo on May 17^th2017 with the prosecutor of Valencia. This complaint is still being processed.

And to discover our actions and past victories, uncover the history of a fight conducted for 18 years!

Tuesday, February 20th 2018, One Voice will plead twice to the Nantes Criminal Court for two animals, victims of violent humans

Tuesday, February 20th 2018, One Voice will plead twice to the Nantes Criminal Court for two animals, victims of violent humans
19.02.2018
Nantes
Tuesday, February 20th 2018, One Voice will plead twice to the Nantes Criminal Court for two animals, victims of violent humans
Domestic animals

One Voice will plead at the Nantes Correctional Court on 20th February 2018 at 8:30 am and again at 2 pm, for two trials against humans who have committed violence towards animals.

Acts of cruelty towards a young bitch

Last year, 13-month-old Teky was freed from the yoke of her violent human, following an offence (February 4^th, 2017). Shouting, hanging by the leash, repeated kicking, all before being dragged for several meters behind a bike and in front of a witness! He tried to minimize his actions and showed no awareness of his cruelty.

One Voice complained about acts of cruelty to a domestic animal, and will also intervene on behalf of the SPA44 that took care of the cross-bred Spaniel-Papillon. The hearing is scheduled at 8:30 am, and the case is argued by Agathe Halkovich.

Acts of a zoophilic nature towards a heifer

On October 18^th2017, alerted by his dog, the owner of a dairy farm surprised a convicted offender who had sex with a three-month-old heifer. She was in a state of great vulnerability, trapped in the barn without her mother or anyone to protect her.

In this case, the animal has not been treated as a real victim: no visit to a veterinarian to assess the lesions and accredit the thesis of sexual abuse … We do not even know his name. Here, all the ambiguity of the status of the animal is recognized, which is recognized as a sentient being while remaining considered as an object. The suspect denies the facts. His belt had been found on the farm some time before.

One Voice filed a complaint against the individual. The hearing will take place at 2.00 pm, and the case is argued by a legal professional Arielle Moreau.

Muriel Arnal, president and founder of One Voice says:

« Today, the civil code states that animals are sentient beings, yet before the law they remain objects, and we see an upsurge of violence against them. Property, products, their well-being is flouted and also their ability to suffer, to feel emotions, is denied or even minimized. This is why for seven years, the One Voice Zoé Cell, both a legal entity, investigative and rescuer, is fighting to fight against the trivialization of cruelty and not let these crimes go unpunished. »

Share on

Wild animals in circuses, One Voice answers to the SNVEL

Wild animals in circuses, One Voice answers to the SNVEL
15.02.2018
Wild animals in circuses, One Voice answers to the SNVEL
Exploitation for shows

The One Voice association was questioned in a written forum by the National Union of Professional Veterinarians (SNVEL) published on February 8th, 2018 in la Dépêche Vétérinaire¹ (The veterinarian dispatch).

It is thus stated that the purpose of the One Voice Association’s approach, by seeking the opinions of the national veterinary authorities on the issue of the presence of wild animals in travelling circuses, The SNVEL would be opposed to this type of objection.

In this regard, the SNVEL states that it does not share the view that the presence of wild animals in the shows would necessarily be associated with mistreatment.

It is clear from the reading of this communiqué, SNVEL voluntarily avoided answering the specific question posed to it by the One Voice association, which is the presence of wild animals in travelling shows.

As a group of veterinarians and thus of animal health professionals, the union can hardly go against the opinions expressed by its own European and national authorities, by the zoos themselves, or by independent scientific experts.

The association One Voice is also curious to know the scientific criteria on which the SNVEL has based its opinion relating to the adaptation of a wild animal to this itinerant spectacle. Professors Jo Dornin, Steven Harris and Heather Pickett portray the life of animals in circuses as “lives that are not worth living”.

More worryingly still, the SNVEL declares itself opposed to this group of individuals belonging to that of the wild species in their natural environment, because of the threat that this group would pose to the wild species. They don’t even question the harmful consequences that such unnatural exhibitions can have in terms of public awareness and education.

One Voice therefore urges SNVEL to assume the responsibilities incumbent upon it in this fight for the preservation of species and the cessation of all forms of violence on these sentient beings and to the common heritage of our planet.

¹ « La brêve » – L’instantané N°41 du vendredi 9 Février 2018 de la Dépêche Vétérinaire

Photo credit Jo-Anne McArthur/One Voice

Share on

Three abandoned dogs on a balcony finish by devouring each other, we press charges

Three abandoned dogs on a balcony finish by devouring each other, we press charges
15.02.2018
Three abandoned dogs on a balcony finish by devouring each other, we press charges
Domestic animals

Three dogs on the balcony, three cats in the apartment. A sick cat, all the dogs were starving. Their abusive humans, in the background illegal farming, let the worst happen: one of the dogs was attacked by the other two. He lost his life. Through the reporting of a neighbour and an association, the remaining animals were saved. One Voice sent its Zoe Cell to rescue the dogs and cats then lodged a complaint for acts of cruelty.

The gendarmes, warned by a neighbour, arrived in the middle of a dog fight and backed off, abandoning the animals. For a whole week after the incident, the animals remained at the mercy of the four human owners who had put them in this situation!

The association that had alerted us moved heaven and earth: insisting with the services of the DDPP, the City Hall and gendarmes, video footage and witnesses. All this in support, so that these animals could be removed as soon as possible before we warned the owners. The Amstaff Passion Association had enabled the intervention and removal of the animals.

This Thursday February 8^thin the morning, the five animals, all covered with fleas (a dog Cani Corso and a puppy crossed staff and Shar Pei, as well as three cats including a sick kitten), were saved. These poor animals have suffered a hellish ordeal: lack of care, undernourished, kept out in winter …we couldn’t paint a darker image. The videos that testify to this arouse in us anger and sadness, anger against these humans, sadness for the unbearable suffering endured by these animals.

It is more than likely that the dogs were used by the woman and the three men living in the apartment to secretly run a breeding and animal trafficking business. Maybe even these animals were stolen. The investigation will reveal this.

We will be in any case with them to obtain justice for the dog who lost his life, and for the other animals, pushed to the limits by these humans without mercy.

Adobe Stock illustration photo

It’s time to recognize the status of people and the rights of elephants

It’s time to recognize the status of people and the rights of elephants
12.02.2018
United States It’s time to recognize the status of people and the rights of elephants
Exploitation for shows

The first legal action of the Nonhuman Rights Project for elephant rights concerns the individual stories of Beulah, Karen, and Minnie: from the day that humans had snatched them from nature to the day they ended up in a traveling circus in Connecticut. But the procedure also concerns the centuries-old history of the possession of captive elephants. Here’s a summary, and how NhRP, with the help of One Voice who is leading the fight in France and working to change this.

For more than 200 years, Americans have held captive members of one of the most cognitive and emotionally complex animals: elephants.

In 1796, an elephant named Old Bet was imported from India to the United States, where it was purchased by Hackaliah Bailey, founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus. The main attraction, she will be transported across the country until her death, at 20, probably killed by a fanatic. At the time of her capture, she was two years old. She would have spent her days exploring India’s rainforests with other elephants, especially her mother, and then growing up and helping to ward off threats by assuming her responsibilities for the welfare of the herd.

Today, the life stories of nearly 300 captive elephants in the United States, and nearly 20,000 in the world, are not very different from those of Old Bet and the many other elephants who, faced with bullets and ankus, had no choice but to follow in her footsteps.

Elephants are not just objects

This is because elephants, like all non-human animals are not less legal “objects” than they were two decades after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As elephant advocates have realized, the elephants’ own interests – their freedom in the first place – are not taken into account in the courts or in legislation, because currently, and for whatever reason, they have no legal rights. Under existing animal welfare laws, we can buy and sell them, deprive them of a social group, physically compel them to entertain us, transport them to any country to serve our interests, and expose them to concrete and steel enclosures that look nothing like their natural habitat.

The intelligence and sensitivity of elephants

Thanks, in particular to the long-term scientific study of the behaviour of elephants and their social groups, we know a great deal more about who they are: their self-awareness, problem solving skills and use of tools. They have their own identity, they remember the past and plan for the future, show empathy for other beings (not just other elephants), and mourn their dead – among other qualities and abilities. But our legal systems have not yet incorporated this level of knowledge we have of them.

An unprecedented action for elephants’ rights

On November 13th, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed the first-ever petition for a writ of Habeas Corpus for captive elephants. Our elephant clients are Beulah, Karen and Minnie, who have worked for decades in circuses and traveling fairs and are currently held captive by the Connecticut Commerford Zoo.

Armed with legal arguments and affidavits carefully crafted by prominent elephant scientists, we are asking the Connecticut common law courts to recognize the non-human legal personality of Beulah, Karen and Minnie and the fundamental right to freedom of as self-aware and autonomous beings and as such, to order their immediate release into a suitable sanctuary. The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), respected around the world, has already agreed to offer them a place in a sanctuary upon release.

Our depositors include:

Lucy Bates (Honorary Researcher, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews)
Richard Byrne (Research Professor, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Development, University of St Andrews)
Ed Stewart (President and Co-Founder, Performing Animal Welfare Society)
Karen McComb (Professor of Animal Behaviour and Cognition, University of Sussex)
Dr. Cynthia Moss, (Program and Trust Director, Amboseli Trust for Elephants)
Joyce Poole (Co-Founder and Co-Director, Elephant Voices).

Added to the selection of affidavits is the video ethnography belonging to experts on wild elephants, to reinforce the injustice that deprives our clients of their physical freedom.

For the recognition of the fundamental rights of all elephants

Like Old Bet, Beulah, Karen and Minnie have spent most of their lives entertaining humans. But their stories must not end like hers. As potentially the first elephants to have legally recognized basic rights, they could even allow other elephants to follow in their footsteps – not in a circus tent or zoo, but in a sanctuary where their abilities and rights to live independently will be respected and encouraged.

One Voice is collaborating with the NonHuman Rights Project. This publication is a translation of Lauren Choplin’s article.