Company that owns baby elephant is no friend of animal rights groups
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PORTLAND, Ore. – The California elephant rental company that owns the baby elephant born last week at the Oregon Zoo has been the focus of abuse allegations by multiple animal rights groups.
Animal Defenders International (ADI), an animal rights group based in Los Angeles, released video of an elephant named Tai, which is owned by Have Trunk Will Travel, being shocked and beaten during training for a role in the film “Water for Elephants.”
Have Trunk Will Travel has a history of beating and shocking elephants owned by the company into submission, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“When not working, the elephants spend much of their time chained by two legs, barely able to take a step forward or backward,” said Jennifer O’Connor with PETA.
PETA and other groups claimed trainers with the company hit elephants with heavy metal tools called bull hooks, which have hooks on the end, and shocked them with a stun gun.
The owners of Have Trunk Will Travel, Gary and Kari Johnson, issued a statement in response to the video and abuse allegations.
“The video shows heavily edited and very short snippets, obviously taken surreptitiously six years ago, purporting mistreatment of our elephants,” the Johnsons said.
“Rest assured that we will continue to provide Tai and all of our elephants with the love and excellent care they deserve.”
KATU News has reached out to the Johnsons by phone and email but has not heard back.
The company is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Calls to the AZA by KATU were not returned Tuesday.
A Portland spokesman for the group In Defense of Animals (IDA) called for the Oregon Zoo to end its relationship with Have Trunk Will Travel.
“To partner with a group that routinely abuses animals, and has been caught routinely abusing animals is just insane,” said Eric Phelps. “How the AZA can stand by an organization that is so clearly abusing their elephants is bewildering. I don’t understand it at all. That’s something the AZA should answer for.”
The zoo in Santa Ana, Calif. and the San Diego County Fair have both cut ties with Have Trunk Will Travel after demonstrations against the company’s treatment of elephants in both cities.
Despite the ownership contract with Have Trunk Will Travel, Oregon Zoo Director Kim Smith said on Tuesday that the baby elephant will not leave the zoo.
Smith also said the zoo has a positive working relationship with Have Trunk Will Travel.
“We have a really strong relationship with Have Trunk Will Travel and they really believe in our vision and they pledge support of our vision,” said Smith. “Our vision again is about matriarchal herds and developing that matriarchal herd choice for our elephants’ strong welfare.”
Early Tuesday evening Have Trunk Will Travel released a statement stating it has no intention of taking Rose-Tu's calf from the Oregon Zoo.
Have Trunk Will Travel has no intention and has never had any intention of
coming to take Rose-Tu’s calf. Have Trunk Will Travel supports Oregon Zoo’s vision for elephants and has great appreciation for the way they care for elephants. We are very proud of the significant contribution we have made together for Asian elephants.
We could not be more excited about the birth of this new calf.
If you go to any movie with an elephant (ie 'Water for Elephants,' Tai is tazered in the undercover video shown to learn tricks for that movie) or see a commercial with an elephant, more than likely it is a HTWT elephant since their ranch is in Perris is just outside LA. The thing to do is write the movie company or the product and let them know you will not be spending your money with them since they hired infamous HTWT. For more advocacy go to www.facebook.com/saveallelephants We do know our facts, even if reporters don't.
If anyone believes anything from an AZA and/or zoo spin factory such as "Oregon Zoo Director Kim Smith said on Tuesday that the baby elephant will not leave the zoo" and anything out of the mouth of HTWT, I have a bridge to sell you.
...and this is why I have boycotted circuses.
Rose Tu was the victim of horrible abuse by her trainer at the Oregon Zoo in 2001-- Rose Tu suffered from 176 puncture wounds and was sodomized with a bull hook in her pen in front of on lookers at the zoo--Her injuries were so horrific her case changed legislation. And to help her recover from her emotional and physical scars the zoo has done nothing but impregnate her and make plans to steal her babies.
Ha anybody noticed that Rose Tu herself is a youngster---forced to have three babies before the tender age of 18-- the Oregon Zoo should be ashamed--their breeding program should have been called the in breeding program--in the wild Packy's father would not screw his daughter nor would Packy have sex with his sister--like the sick humans at the Zoo used to do...
Money ain't free.. and neither are animals OR HUMANS. Educate yourself and understand that we are all owned. Take me, for example. I'm fake, right?? Unless you can get a hi-rez pic of me.. and then you're richer than Bono....
 @SquatchWatcher What the hell is this?  If I had a picture of you I'm sure I won't be richer than Bono.
Whats disgusting is that anyone would associate themselves with these animal rights groups.
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 @Jack_Bauer Jack. you always seem to land on the side of the disgusting, were you born that way or did your parents teach you this trait ?
 @Jack_Bauer Don't be an idiot.  Some of these groups do good things.  Just because KKK is primarily composed of white people don't make all white people evil.
 @Jack_Bauer well you must love shocking and beating elephants with bull hooks, then and god knows what you do to cats and dogs...
This is disgusting.. So, how much is this going to cost the tax payers of Oregon to cover for this mess that the zoo has gotten involved in.. I think the people who said ok to this deal should be gone.. Fact, Have Trunk will Travel is an animal abusing business, why on earth is our zoo involved with them at all.. ???? What are they thinking ?
Why did this information have to come from the Seattle Times? Wasn't anyone locally aware of this?
 @denb Portland, Multnomah County has a deep history of corruption.. No secret..
 @dougrpdx  @denb Portland has a deep history of animal right activists. It would cause a lot of problems like now.. Use facts Doug, not your opinion,.
PETA's involved - this is the organization that kills more cats and dogs than the Humane Society? Â The same organization who opposes animal test of medical products that their VP freely uses when it suits her life? Â Soon as I say these wackos are involved I knew there is no credibility.
 @Benjamin Schniffle Get over it - PETA does the best undercover work in the business. And most "shelter" are kill shelters. There a flat out not enough homes for animals.
 @Benjamin Schniffle Where does that info come from ???
 @dougrpdx  @Benjamin Schniffle I think it is was a well proven fact with valid sources that PETA can't afford the animals it takes in thus they have to put down more of them then the humane society which is much better at adoption.
A contract that clearly gives Have Trunk Will Travel absolute ownership of this calf means they can do whatever they want.  Notice they don't say we "will never" remove the calf, they simply state they "have no intention" of removing her.  They can (and probably will) take her when the time is right for them.  Ownership gives rights and in this case a documented animal abuser owns our elephant calf.  Speaking so glowingly about this company doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy toward our  Oregon Zoo management.  In fact, it's making me more than a little queasy.
I read the "statement" from Have Trunk will Travel. Â Anyone else find it funny that there is no signiture? Â Not even a name? Â Anyone could have wrote that. Â I don't think it would hold up in court, just saying
 @Smockit You can be sure it was Karen Johnson, but your point is valid.
âThe video shows heavily edited and very short snippets, obviously taken surreptitiously six years ago, purporting mistreatment of our elephants,â the Johnsons said. Unless the videographer added in sticks or stun guns, it doesn't matter how short the clip was. The Zoo needs to cut ties. Shame on them for even considering dealing with a for-profit company, let alone one that has even remotely harsh "training" tactics.
 @Beti Ah what is wrong with a for profit company it is how 99.9% of the human population are able to survive?
Thanks KATU for doing this story. To everyone who reads this, join us for a protest and outreach at the zoo on Saturday, December 15, 2pm. And please like our facebook page, Real Friends of Packy and The Animals of the Oregon Zoo. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/REAL-Friends-of-Packy-and-the-Animals-of-the-Oregon-Zoo/198274823541369?fref=ts
 @elephantfriend Put it in as a Fb Event and share with Save Queenie Save Elephants at www.facebook.com/saveallelephants
I find it sickening that we even have animals like this in captivity anywhere. Yes, I've been to a zoo, and I quit going because it broke my heart to see any of them in captivity. They were born free, they should die free. It's just sad to me.
@paulelijah But they're not dying "free". In the wild, and in the area where these animals live, they're bveing poached and forced to endure horrible, tragic deaths. You all feel bad for these elephants living at the zoo or in a sanctuary? Don't. Their relatives are being slaughtered unmercifully. Knowing what these poor, innocent creatures have to endure, you'd beg for a zoo to come and round them up to bring back.
 @fracas  @paulelijah People in Auschiwitz went past the deadline so they would be shot. Living incarcerated as a slave is no life for man or beast. Yes, elephants are being slaughtered while China eats with ivory chop sticks. But that does not change an elephant's genetically programmed life span of 70-80 years, same as ours. They live miserably for about 40 yrs in zoos (no privacy & screaming kids) and suffer for @10 years with arthritis and foot infections until it kills them (osteomyelitis is the major killer of captive elephants). This happens because they have no place to move and circulate the blood to their feet. Elephants need miles, not a few paltry acres. No elephant would beg to be "rounded up, " just as the Jews did not beg to be rounded up, and some are known to kill their infants since they know their offspring will never live anything but the life of a slave (on display, bred, no choices, no way to leave). Your's "fracas" is a common misconception because it is life span that it the point. Captive elephants can't be shipped back to the wild, but they can be shipped to sanctuaries with thousands of acres to roam and heal.Â
 @fracas  @paulelijah the elephants in the wild are being killed to capture wild elephants for the AZA zoos in Mexico--
 @fracas  @paulelijah I completely disagree with you. Yes they are being poached, but I think any animal would rather be free to roam the earth and take that chance rather than live a life in an environment it wasn't made for, surrounded by people who (instead of killing it and taking its tusks) are going to subject it to a life of torture, being shocked, fish hooked, and beaten by trainers. I don't feel bad for the ones living in sanctuaries, I feel bad for the ones that (like the one on loan to the Oregon Zoo) are owned by a company that has been documented torturing these animals into submission so they'll perform circus tricks, perform in movies (such as Water for Elephants) and I think any sane person and any sane animal would gladly choose being killed by a poacher rather than being kept alive and tortured for the remainder of its life...but that's just me.....
 @m 4  @Benjamin Schniffle Thank you, Exactly how I feel.
 @Benjamin Schniffle  @paulelijah Except for that elephants were not born to live in pens so small. It's the same as leaving a dog on a chain for his whole life. But elephants are sentient beings so it's actually even worse. It's like asking a man if he'd rather labor in a camp for the entirety of his life or risk living freely in a dangerous country. No one chooses the camp
 @paulelijah  @fracas http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57557182/clinton-calls-on-world-leaders-to-end-african-elephant-slaughter/
 @paulelijah I doubt elephants would freely choose to live in a place where they can be shot, have their tooth yanked out, and left bleeding to death in the hot sun.  I'm pretty sure most animal would rather be well fed, washed, kept disease free, and given plenty chances to procreate.
The zoo didn't come out with the contract information earlier is because had it not been discovered the Baby would have been shipped out without anyone knowing anything. I no longer have faith in the Oregon Zoo. I no longer believe anything they say. I have no doubt that we will wake up some morning to her shipped out unless my chaining myself to the entrance gates does some good. Of course perhaps having another 300 or so plus people to help me might do the trick.
 @bb1962 It's not just this zoo, it is any AZA zoo that will always spin any truth.
Statement of Have Trunk will Travel is not working?
Integrity of Have Trunk Will Travel is not working!
The video is not "fake images". Even a short  video snippet of an elephant being beaten and shocked says all we need to know about this "elephant  rental" (renting wild animals that need to stay in their own herd to be healthy and happy? REALLY??? WTH???). This company should go out of business and lend help to the  genuine elephant sanctuaries. "Renting" elephants....ridiculous...why not rent your kids to total strangers too?
Please check out the elephant sanctuary in Tennessee where humane, progressive zoos  (like Toronto's) and NOT like Oregon Zoo)  are releasing their elephants to:
http://www.elephants.com/
1. Zoos should own the rights for the stewardship for all animals in their care. (You cannot own a wild animal, you just have it captive.)Â
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2. Never, ever trust anyone who says anything like, "Rest assured that we will continue to provide all of the (name of animal here) with the love and excellent care they deserve.â
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3. Never, ever, ever trust PETA with an animal.
Well, the zoo had better get off the stick and get something figured out. The clock is ticking down and there will be no 2 minute warning.
Let me get this straight, the zoo had a contract with this company & it's just now coming out?? They had all these
months to get this taken care of BEFORE the baby elephant was born. It wasn't as if they didn't know about the
contract. Perhaps they thought they could send the baby down there & no one would notice she was missing. Really???Â
 @dianned I'm wondering if they would have come up with some hokey story about her dying and so on. It may also explain why they've been hesitant to introduce her to the public...since all the criteria of her bonding with Rose and so on has been met. Despite all the zoo's assurances, something still stinks worse than Elephant poo in a PNW heatwave. I'm watching this very closely and if developments continue in this vein, a good many of my friends and myself will be pulling our funding from the zoo.
@MissLissaJ Good! Glad to hear that.
 @MissLissaJ  @dianned You should already be pressuring the Zoo to cease and desist doing any business with an animal abuser company.