http://www.elephants.com/pr/OReillyResponse_9_6_06.htm
Joanna Burke's Father's Response to Comments Made on Bill O'Reilly Show

On September 6, 2006, The Elephant Sanctuary received an email from Joanna Burke's father, Paul Burke, regarding a response he had sent Bill O'Reilly (Fox News) after watching O'Reilly's show on September 5. On that show, O'Reilly had interviewed two individuals: Steve Irwin's manager and the producer of Animal Kingdom. O'Reilly referenced in his opening remarks the danger of working with animals such as Steve Irwin and his alligator stunts and Siegfried and Roy. Then, to add to his case, he mentioned "Joanna Burke who was killed by the elephant in Tennessee." O'Reilly mistakenly identified her as a "trainer" and "training" as what she was doing when the accident occurred.

This is the response Paul Burke wrote to Bill O'Reilly:

Dear Bill:

I am and have been a loyal listener for a very long time. I've always been impressed with your and your staff's ability to search out and report the facts.

However, I believe you blew it in your interviews last night with Steve Irwin's manager and the Producer of Animal Kingdom. And here is how:

You included my daughter, Joanna Burke, the young woman who was killed by Winkie the elephant at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee in your discussion of individuals whose mission is nothing like that of The Elephant Sanctuary nor Joanna's work.

You indentified Joanna as a "Trainer" and her activity when she was killed as "Training". Nothing is further from the truth. There is no "training" done at The Elephant Sanctuary. On the contrary, the Sanctuary was founded to reverse and undo the negative impact of the "training" and other brutal treatment these beautiful animals have received throughout their lives--one of the impacts being the baggage they carry for years after which sometimes can cause them to strike out years later as Winkie did that day.

Joanna was a "Caregiver" of the elepnhants and she, as well as the entire Elephant Sanctuary staff, would decry the actions of Siegfried and Roy and yes, even Steve Irwin, as these individuals either created situations foreign to the nature of the creatures they work with or create situations that irritate the animals rather than allow them to live as they were meant to live.

All the elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary have been rescued from their intolerably cruel and abusive existences in circuses and zoos througout the United States. They then are allowed to live their lives as nature created them to live, without interference by humans. That's right, the Sanctuary is not open to the public. If one wishes to learn how elephants live in the wild one can go to the Sanctuary's web site which has remote video cameras which show the elephants grazing, swimming, loving, etc. across 2700 acres of pasture, ponds and forest.

The Elephant Sanctuary is a privately funded organization. Not one cent of government money has ever been used to fund any aspect of this wonderful organization. At the Sanctuary, there are no chains for the elephants' legs. There are no hooks for the elephants' trunks. There are no bats to beat the elephants when they don't learn tricks fast enough as has been done in circuses over the years and continues today.

At the Elephant Sanctuary there is no place for dominance of humans over the elephants' behavior. At the Elephant Sanctuary, the elephants rule.

In the past you've asked your listeners to go to your web site to learn more about what's going on. And so we have.

Now, allow me to challenge you, Bill, and your staff to do the same and visit www.elephants.com and learn about the wonderful work being done at The Elephant Sanctuary and by its committed staff. You'll quickly see that the work of this organization is nothing like those you grouped Joanna and her work with.

And who knows, visiting the site may just cause you to make a donation and/or, more important, to take up the cause of exploited animals in the United States.

Warm regards,

Paul Burke
Mansfield, MA