To the editor: It’s disheartening to study that Billy and Tina at the moment are on the Tulsa Zoo, caught in quarantine, reasonably than at one of many many sanctuaries wanting to rehome them (“Elephants Billy and Tina whisked out of L.A. Zoo by night time amid protests, arrive in Tulsa,” Could 21). My frustration upon studying that Mayor Karen Bass selected to not intervene compounds my frustration with animal advocates who have interaction in partisan politics and anticipate Democrats to assist animals. Animals want extra dependable buddies.
I lived in Pacific Palisades from the time the Rick Caruso growth opened there and noticed Caruso recurrently, at all times along with his beloved canine by his facet. I’ve appreciated his assist of the Santa Barbara Humane Society. And I can’t assist however ponder whether he would have spoken out for the 2 elephants who’ve already spent many years in zoos and deserve a real retirement on lots of of acres. Animal advocates ought to study his stance on that, and his willingness to get entangled in animal welfare points, earlier than the subsequent election cycle.
Karen Daybreak, Santa Barbara
This author is the director of animal advocacy nonprofit DawnWatch.
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To the editor: Studying concerning the L.A. Zoo’s secretive midnight shifting of its beloved elephants Billy and Tina — largely to dodge public protest and reporters — I’m reminded of the time one other L.A. establishment did basically the identical factor.
A Los Angeles Occasions Journal article titled “The Loss of life of Marineland,” dated Aug. 9, 1987, recounts the night time earlier that yr when the brand new proprietor of Marineland bought its star attraction killer whales, Orky and Corky, to Sea World San Diego. In accordance with the article, “The orders that had come down the day earlier than had been accompanied by strict warnings in opposition to leaking the information. … Marineland’s new proprietor, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, had ordered the well-known whales shipped out that night time.” Twenty-two days later, Jovanovich abruptly closed the park and fired its 300 staff.
Orky died the subsequent yr, in September 1988. Happily, his mate Corky remains to be alive in San Diego at age 60. Right here’s hoping Billy and Tina will thrive of their new dwelling on the Tulsa Zoo.
Paul Robert Coyle, Valley Village
