HAPPY Anniversary

It was 8 years ago yesterday that a dear elephant named Shirley was taken from a zoo where she spent decades in solitary confinement (which is cruel for these exceptionally social animals) to the Elephant Sanctuary in, of all places, Tennessee. This was documented in a fabulous and heartbreaking documentary, The Urban Elephant. They showed her keeper, a sweet older chap who had looked after her just about as long as she'd been there, working to load her into the truck that would deliver her to freedom. She was so reluctant to go. Previous to being at the zoo, she was in the circus. No doubt the endless travel had not been pleasant and she wanted no part of that again. If only she knew! This was followed by a heartbreaking scene that always reduces me to mush. She arrives at the sanctuary and her keeper must say goodbye to her. Clearly he loves her very much and though he knows it's best for her it's a very difficult time. He says, "I don't know who the first person to put a chain around her was, but I'm proud to be the last one to take it off."

As if her freedom weren't happy and joyous enough, something remarkable happened her first night at the sanctuary. She was in a pen overnight and when the sanctuary keepers came in to see her in the morning they heard all sorts of trumpeting and the bars between her and the elephant next to her were bent. Her neighbor was a girl named Jenny and they were obviously desperate to be near each other. Turns out these grand ladies were both in the same circus decades earlier and clearly remembered each other and were so happy to see their old friend. The two were inseperable until about a year ago when Jenny died.

This one episode is enough proof for me that these animals are thoughtful, intelligent, soulfull creatures that are worthy of our respect, love, and care. I find it absolutely barbaric that they are still used in circuses and other ways for human amusement. The only thing that keeps me sane sometimes is the knowledge that those who abuse them or any other animal will get their just "reward" one day. They will be held accountable.

Please feel free to read the firsthand account of Shirley's arrival at the sanctuary's site: http://elephants.com/shirley/shirleyarrives.htm. They do fabulous work there and there's plenty of other information there as well.