Deadline Approaches to Submit Comments to USDA on Elephant Care

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.api4animals.org/actionalerts?p=963&more=1

Action Alert:
Deadline Approaches to Submit Comments to USDA on Elephant Care

Published 12/06/06

Reminder: The deadline to submit your comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is this Monday, December 11, so if you haven’t done so already, please use this opportunity to speak out for the elephants.

As we informed you in October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently seeking public comments on space and living conditions for captive elephants in the U.S. The submission deadline was subsequently extended to December 11, 2006.

The USDA’s important decision to accept comments came as a result of intense media and public scrutiny over the plight of elephants in zoos and circuses. It also follows the submission of a citizen’s petition by In Defense of Animals to the USDA seeking enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act’s adequate space provision at zoos and circuses.

The USDA is seeking comments on all aspects of elephant care, including lack of space, unnatural substrates, unnatural social groupings, and the use of bullhooks, chains, electric hotshots, and other instruments of force commonly used to control elephants.
How You Can Help

It is critical for the future well-being of captive elephants in the U.S. that the USDA receive strong letters in support of dramatically improving the conditions provided for these magnificent animals.

Please write today to speak out on behalf of elephants. The deadline to submit your comments to the USDA is December 11, 2006. To help in crafting your comments, a list of talking points is provided below. Please also personalize your letter as much as possible.

To submit comments via Internet:
You may submit or view public comments and view all supporting and related petition materials as follows:

* Visit the Federal eRulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main
* From the “Agency” drop-down menu on the Search page, select "Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service"
* Click on "Submit"
* In the “Docket ID” column, select “APHIS-2006-0044”
* Click on the yellow “Add Comments” icon at the right side of the page to submit your comments. Or, you may click on any document on this page to view materials related to this petition, and all public comments already on record electronically.

To submit letters by postal mail:
Send an original and three copies to:

Docket No. APHIS-2006-0044
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS/USDA
Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road, Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238

Talking Points

1. Zoos and circuses do not provide elephants with the conditions they require for their health and well-being.
2. The Animal Welfare Act requires that zoos and circuses provide elephants with adequate space. Neither zoos nor circuses currently meet this requirement.
3. In too many zoos and circuses, elephants suffer not only from lack of space, but from unnatural conditions and social deprivation that eventually cause a range of preventable ailments — including painful arthritis, foot disease, reproductive and digestive disorders, and neurotic behaviors such as swaying and head bobbing. An estimated half of all captive elephants suffer from arthritis and foot disease, and these ailments are the leading cause of euthanasia in captive elephants.
4. Circus elephants are often subjected to prolonged chaining, spending up to 21 hours a day standing in chains and more than 11 months of the year traveling in train boxcars, where they are again chained, and forced to endure extreme temperatures and to stand for hours in their own waste. Many zoo elephants are also subjected to prolonged chaining, and to confinement in barn stalls for extended periods of time.
5. Circuses and many zoos control their elephants through force, domination, and aggressive use of the bullhook and other tools of intimidation such as whips, clubs, and electric shock devices. These instruments are unnecessary and must be outlawed.
6. Exhibitors of elephants must be required to provide large, naturalistic environments similar to those at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in California. These two refuges provide hundreds to thousands of acres over which elephants can roam, socialize and maintain their health.

For more information, please contact Nicole Paquette at 916-447-3085 x214 or email to [e-mail].

Thanks for advocating on behalf of elephants!

[Target_For_Exterm]

1. If it's Republican elephants, I recommend torture.

If it's elephants from the animal kingdom, then a little tender care is in order.

Having elephants go crazy because of environmental stress is a pretty wild thing to happen.