BY FAX

To the owner/operators of the Greater Vancouver Zoo:

Re: Tina, the Elephant - Time for Tennessee Sanctuary

Your confinement for 30 years of a beautiful elephant in a small, fenced enclosure with no trees or large watering hole or semblance of a natural habitat indicates that your zoo does not have the animals’ best interests at heart. It is abnormal for an elephant to live in a pen. In their natural habitat, elephants roam large territory with family companions and interact with them socially for the entire length of their lives. All of Tina’s natural instincts have been forcefully squashed and, instead, she has served as “entertainment for humans" and for your profit. What message are you sending to children ?

Times have changed and brought forth a greater understanding of stewardship and compassion for animals that share our planet. To remove them from their natural habitat and normal social interactions and then parade them on display in front of paying gawkers is not acceptable any longer. Even the Vancouver Aquarium who, for so long hid behind the guise of "educating" the public, has realized that keeping whales in captivity is no longer acceptable to the general public. It has abandoned its previous policy of captivity and, has instead, focused its policies more along the lines of rehabilitation of injured/abandoned sea creatures with a view to releasing them back to their natural habitat.

Since you have forced Tina to live an unnatural existence, it is incumbent upon you to now provide her with a much deserved rural natural setting with other companions. Send her to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Do the right thing morally !

To Langley Township Mayor and Councillors:
Sites like the Greater Vancouver Zoo will have dwindling revenue dollars and support from the general public as society pressure forces closure of these unnatural habitats. I hope the Township will not renew business licences for such establishments under its jurisdiction.

Lana Simon, President
Pacific Animal Foundation
North Vancouver, BC
www.pacificanimal.org

cc to: PAF - Directors and Members

Mayor & Councillors - Langley Township

Animal Advocates Society