John Olexa
02-09-2005, 10:30 PM
the follow, comes from PETA's magazine animal times, It starts out sad but ends happy:
lota, an Asian elephant who had been captured in the wild as a baby made headlines in 1990 when animal handlers beat her bloody while loading her onto a trailer that took her from her home at the Milwaukee Zoo to John Cuneo's Hawthorn Corporation, which trains animas to preform tricks and rents them to circuses. In an ordeal that lasted 3 hours zookeppers screamed & beat Lota with bullhooks. After falling out of the trailer & hitting her head, Lota urinated blood while struggling to get to her feet. The circus training, constant travel,& lack of care left Lota with a human form of tuberculosis causing her to become weak & emaciated.(This is when PETA got involved). We are overjoyed to report that her decades long suffering has come to a end. following is a summarized timeline:
OCT. 1996: Acting on a tip from PETA, Florida health officials stopped the Walker Bros. Circus from tranporting Lota into the state because of her tuberculosis infection. the next month , working with PETA the Milwaukee Zoo negotiated with Hawthorn in an attempt to send the sick elephant to a sanctuary. Hawthorn rejected the offer.
May 2001 : in response to photographs & videotape that PETA sent to the US Department of Agriculture ( USDA) showing Lota's emaciated state & dire need of foot care, the USDA pulled Lota off the road & launched an investigation.
May 2002: A vet. found that Lota was several hundred pounds underweight.
April 2003: The USDA concluded its investigation into Hawthorns neglect of Lota & other elephants. The agency filed charges against Hawthorn for failing to provide Lota & others with vet. care or to supervise the public's contact with them.
March 2004: As we reported in last falls Animal Times, moments before PETA was schedled to testify against Hawthorn & its president, John Cuneo, Cuneo admitted Hawthorns guilt in 19 violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Cuneo was ordered to pay a $200,000 fine & most important relinquish custody of his elephants to USDA- approved facilites.
Nov.2004 ELEPHANTS ARE FREED After 5 years of abuse Lota & Misty, another Hawthorn elephant infected with tuberculosis, arrived at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. There arrival marked the end of a long battle among PETA, the USDA & Hawthorn & a happy new beginning for Lota & Misty. They will never again experience the harsh discipline of a bullhook ripping through there skin, the boredom & lonelines of long hours shackled inside a circus trailer, or the indignity of preforming silly tricks in a circus ring.
At the sanctuary, Lota & Misty are finally experiencing the nurturing & expert vet. care that they urgently need. Days after there arrival, they began reciving medication for tuberculosis, healthy food, vitamin & mineral suupplements.
The staff reports "Lota & Misty are full of energy & play"
Both elephants have discovered the joy of sleeping under the stars on solf earth, awakening to the sunrise, feasting on river cane, & playing in the rain.
Lota "purrs" ehen her caregivers approach playfull Misty runs around the yard trumpeting .
You can follow Lota & Misty progress at the sanctuarys web site Elephants.com
PETA RULES!!!!!!
But Hawthorn has been manipulating the legal system in a attempt to avoid relinquishing its remaining 12 elephants & are still renting them to circuses or other substandard facilities. Please write a short . polite letter to the USDA insisting that Hawthorn elephants be immediately retired to a true sanctuary
Chester A.Gipson D.V.D
Associate Deputy Administrator
USDA-APHIS-VS
4700 River Rd. Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
301-734-4993 (FAX)
lota, an Asian elephant who had been captured in the wild as a baby made headlines in 1990 when animal handlers beat her bloody while loading her onto a trailer that took her from her home at the Milwaukee Zoo to John Cuneo's Hawthorn Corporation, which trains animas to preform tricks and rents them to circuses. In an ordeal that lasted 3 hours zookeppers screamed & beat Lota with bullhooks. After falling out of the trailer & hitting her head, Lota urinated blood while struggling to get to her feet. The circus training, constant travel,& lack of care left Lota with a human form of tuberculosis causing her to become weak & emaciated.(This is when PETA got involved). We are overjoyed to report that her decades long suffering has come to a end. following is a summarized timeline:
OCT. 1996: Acting on a tip from PETA, Florida health officials stopped the Walker Bros. Circus from tranporting Lota into the state because of her tuberculosis infection. the next month , working with PETA the Milwaukee Zoo negotiated with Hawthorn in an attempt to send the sick elephant to a sanctuary. Hawthorn rejected the offer.
May 2001 : in response to photographs & videotape that PETA sent to the US Department of Agriculture ( USDA) showing Lota's emaciated state & dire need of foot care, the USDA pulled Lota off the road & launched an investigation.
May 2002: A vet. found that Lota was several hundred pounds underweight.
April 2003: The USDA concluded its investigation into Hawthorns neglect of Lota & other elephants. The agency filed charges against Hawthorn for failing to provide Lota & others with vet. care or to supervise the public's contact with them.
March 2004: As we reported in last falls Animal Times, moments before PETA was schedled to testify against Hawthorn & its president, John Cuneo, Cuneo admitted Hawthorns guilt in 19 violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Cuneo was ordered to pay a $200,000 fine & most important relinquish custody of his elephants to USDA- approved facilites.
Nov.2004 ELEPHANTS ARE FREED After 5 years of abuse Lota & Misty, another Hawthorn elephant infected with tuberculosis, arrived at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. There arrival marked the end of a long battle among PETA, the USDA & Hawthorn & a happy new beginning for Lota & Misty. They will never again experience the harsh discipline of a bullhook ripping through there skin, the boredom & lonelines of long hours shackled inside a circus trailer, or the indignity of preforming silly tricks in a circus ring.
At the sanctuary, Lota & Misty are finally experiencing the nurturing & expert vet. care that they urgently need. Days after there arrival, they began reciving medication for tuberculosis, healthy food, vitamin & mineral suupplements.
The staff reports "Lota & Misty are full of energy & play"
Both elephants have discovered the joy of sleeping under the stars on solf earth, awakening to the sunrise, feasting on river cane, & playing in the rain.
Lota "purrs" ehen her caregivers approach playfull Misty runs around the yard trumpeting .
You can follow Lota & Misty progress at the sanctuarys web site Elephants.com
PETA RULES!!!!!!
But Hawthorn has been manipulating the legal system in a attempt to avoid relinquishing its remaining 12 elephants & are still renting them to circuses or other substandard facilities. Please write a short . polite letter to the USDA insisting that Hawthorn elephants be immediately retired to a true sanctuary
Chester A.Gipson D.V.D
Associate Deputy Administrator
USDA-APHIS-VS
4700 River Rd. Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
301-734-4993 (FAX)