Statement:

Judge Rooke did not rule on the merits of the case—he simply decided that the groups must use other means to raise these issues. The judge’s ruling today demonstrates what little legal protection exists for animals who are kept in grossly substandard conditions and offers a road map to compel the authorities to do their jobs and protect this elephant from future harm.

Judge Rooke points out that it should be possible to rely on local law enforcement to order Lucy moved and to charge the zoo with cruelty, but so far that hasn’t happened. The ruling in no way vindicates the city—the judge has simply commented on a matter of procedure. We fully intend to pursue other legal action, and we again call on law enforcement to recognize that it is dereliction of duty to allow Lucy to continue to suffer from arthritis, chronic foot ailments, obesity, and upper respiratory problems—all of which are the result of the substandard conditions at the Valley Zoo.

These conditions are made worse by the region’s frigid climate, which is ill-suited to an Asian elephant. Lucy has also been alone for almost three years, spends most of her time in a small barn, and exhibits behavior that indicates severe psychological distress. The only long-term solution for Lucy—one that must be immediately implemented—is to finally allow her to move to a warmer climate at a sanctuary where she can be in the company of other elephants. We hope that she will live to see that day.

On August 20, 2010, after weeks of waiting Associate Chief Justice John D. Rooke ruled that the Zoocheck Canada/ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals legal action against the City of Edmonton on behalf of Lucy the elephant cannot move forward. The determining factor in his decision was his opinion that the proceeding was not the correct procedure to seek a remedy for the harm alleged to Lucy.

"Of course, we're disappointed, but these things happen. They got off on a technicality. Our legal team doesn't agree with his opinion, but he's made his ruling. What's unfortunate in all this is that the overwhelming affidavit evidence from a cadre of world renowned elephant experts confirming Lucy's poor living conditions and inappropriate social isolation was never heard," said Julie Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada.

"As well, the Valley Zoo didn't have to defend their numerous nonsensical claims about Lucy that fly in the face of accepted science, zoo industry standards and common sense," added Woodyer.

In his ruling Associate Chief Justice Rooke was very clear that his ruling did not address Lucy's living conditions and health. He said "While this litigation before the Court makes allegations about the health and care of Lucy, this Decision does not address those allegations. Rather, it addresses the health of the legal system to properly consider such allegations."

Zoocheck Canada and its partner groups say the decision does not impact on their efforts to provide relief to Lucy's suffering. "We're still considering the judge's remarks and haven't ruled anything out. In the meantime, other initiatives on behalf of Lucy are already underway," said Woodyer.

On behalf of PETA and Zoocheck, respected attorney Clayton Ruby will initiate legal action against the city of Edmonton over the conditions under which an ailing elephant named Lucy is forced to live at Edmonton's Valley Zoo—conditions that the groups say are cruel and unlawful. In a letter sent to Mayor Stephen Mandel in October, PETA and Zoocheck warned that legal action would be taken against the city in an effort to seek enforcement of Alberta's Animal Protection Act if Lucy's distress was not relieved. Ruby, along with representatives of PETA and Zoocheck, will discuss the case at a news conference on Monday after the application for declaratory judgment is filed in Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench.

 

Originating Notice Requesting Declaratory Relief and Expert Affidavits availble on this site after 1 pm MST.

by: Gay Bradshaw, Psychology Today

Who then is free? The wise man, who has dominion over himself; whom neither poverty, nor death, nor chains affright; brave in the checking of his appetites, and in contemning honours; and, perfect in himself, polished and round as a globe, so that nothing from without can retard, in consequence of its smoothness; against whom misfortune ever advances ineffectually. —Horace The Roman poet speaks from experience: he was no stranger to poverty, death, or misfortune. His father had been a slave and Horace himself fought alongside Brutus, of et tu fame, in the bloody civil wars that followed Julius Caesar's assassination. Unfortunately, their armies were eventually defeated, Brutus committed suicide, and the sword-carrying poet returned home to find the family property confiscated by victors.

Horace sets a high, and admirable, standard for us to maintain a self "polished and round as a globe" particularly in the face of traumatic events. Those who manage to overcome unimaginable psychological and physical ordeals discover that the self can tap into deep reservoirs of resilience, conferring not only survival, but internal integrity. However, Horace's model self is neither static nor immutable.

How often have you heard said of someone who has experienced a violent event or other overwhelming experience, "She just isn't herself anymore"? The ever-smiling outgoing bonne vivante has suddenly become expressionless and withdrawn to the point of hostility, a shadow of the person before trauma. Others astound with their apparent lack of change. They step back into life, picking-up former careers or pursuing new ones with vigor, and engage in everyday habits of housework and holidays. Traces of their hardship are barely distinguishable from the lines and pouches that come with age. The past disappears seamlessly under the carpet of time, beguiling family and friends into forgetting that once their father or sister almost succumbed to endless terror. However, outward appearances and physical survival can mask who lies within.

The story of Primo Levi is a haunting example of the incongruity between physical exterior and psychological interior. He lived decades beyond the horrors of the Holocaust, developed a successful career as a chemist, and became an internationally acclaimed writer. Yet, in what is generally assumed to be an act of suicide, he plunged to his death from the third story of his apartment building.

Whether or not Levi's death was self-inflicted is a personal matter best left to his friends and family. More significant is the reminder that there is much more than meets the casual eye in the liberated prisoner who greets the fresh air and sunlight with exhilaration and re-joins community—yet not.

When passing judgments on others we are cautioned to be wary of projections. Our impressions may reflect less an individual's genuine psychological state than our own wishful thinking or cultural conditioning. This lesson extends to the experience of other species, illustrated most vividly in the case of animals kept in cages and confined in zoo exhibits.

Lucy eats, plays a harmonica, and paints pictures for visiting children at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. She is a 34 year-old Asian elephant who lives alone in a concrete enclosure in the frigid cold of Canada since the age of two. Lucy has survived and she looks very much like an elephant. Or does she?

A recent scientific study assessed Lucy's health listing a number of ailments uncharacteristic of a young female elephant: "rheumatoid arthritis, foot abscesses, toe nail cracks, foot pad problems, abscess in hip region, chronic respiratory problems in the form of trunk discharge, breathing from the mouth, blocked nostrils, wheezing, [and] obesity."[2] Unlike her free-ranging contemporaries, Lucy has "a severe obesity problem, has never experienced pregnancy, given birth, or propagated her own progeny." Issues relating to eating and sleeping disorders "are related to loneliness or mental or psychological problems."

Lucy is described as "dull, inactive, [and] relatively disinterested in any form of physical activity." She displays stereotypy and rocking, the repetitive behaviour characteristic of prisoners kept in sustained, stressful confinement.

Additionally, she shows no ear flapping. . . and tail/trunk movement is absent. She often appears to be trying to support herself by leaning against a wall or object; which may be due to her leg problems, arthritis and/or obesity.[2]

When Lucy is not on exhibit, zookeepers "make efforts to motivate or ‘force' her to walk, meaning it is not necessarily performed voluntarily." Based on thirty-nine parameters relating to physical condition behavior, housing, nutrition, and other factors used to estimate overall wellbeing, Lucy received a 3 compared with scores of 10 received by her wild counterparts. Most tellingly, perhaps, is this simple observation: "Lucy walks slowly, unlike the majestic walk seen in elephants in the wild."

Like many prisoners, Lucy's physical state documents the ravages of forced confinement and isolation. Stress seeps into the body leaving enduring scars.[3] But what happens inside, to the mind? What might the mind look like if we could see it as we do the physical form?

Drawing from what we know about the neuropsychology of trauma, let us perform a gedanken experiment using Horace's perfect sphere as a model of the self to imagine the state of Lucy's mind. In so doing, we speculate on the psychological topology of Lucy's self as she evolved from a baby in elephant society to a young mature female in the prime of her chronological life.

Records show that Lucy was wild-born into a presumably typical elephant family, raised under the care of a mother and aunties, all immersed in verdant Sri Lankan forests. In the language of psychologist John Bowlby, Lucy formed a secure attachment with the capacity to self-regulate affect and to adjust appropriately with changes in her environment. Her traditional upbringing speaks of good psychological health and an intact sense of self, resembling Horace's resiliently perfect sphere.

At age two, Lucy was orphaned (cause unknown) and shipped across the ocean to the zoo. Since elephants are not weaned until the age of four or five years of age and female elephants remain in the-closely knit natal group for life, we can also assume that the loss of her mother and family was physiologically and psychologically traumatic comparable to other documented cases. [4] This profound relational trauma comprised the first deep cut into the polished sphere. But more were yet to come.

A second, great gash in Lucy's self developed with years of social isolation. Her struggle with subzero cold and snow so very different than her native tropics, was etched line by line with every year. The restricted life within barren enclosures deepened psychological lesions.

After more than thirty years of chronic stress, the spherical intact self mirrors the body on the outside. Though somewhat functional and elephant in form, Lucy has become wrinkled, distended, and distorted. She stumbles, barely able to walk. Her stereotypy and disinterest in the outside world suggest that she is withdrawing, her vision increasingly turning inward and sightless after years of staring at the same horizon obscuring grey.

Captivity is unnatural for any being. Science, in its embrace of trans-species models of brain and mind, blurs the distinction between the man condemned to internment and the elephant on exhibit. [5, 6] Whether made captive by concrete walls or electric fences, suffering is the same for an elephant, parrot, human, or any other animal. Bars and walls without imprison the soul within.

Lucy still lives. Sparked at birth in the magic of pachyderm society, the flame of her essential self burns. When the nascent self is nurtured, then even when confronted with trauma, it can access resources internalized unconsciously in childhood that "permit the restoration of one's capacity for love." [7] Her keepers say she has a "calm personality", has never harmed anyone, and is well liked: this and her upbringing speak of an intact self underneath the scarring. Lucy is a bright soul "against whom misfortune ever advances ineffectually". But for how long?

 

References

[1] The Satires of Horace and Persius, London: Penguin, 2005. p. 222.

[2] Varma, S. 2009. Welfare Status of Lucy the Elephant: An Investigation into the Welfare Status of the Elephant Lucy in Valley Zoo, Edmonton, Canada. In press.

[3] van der Kolk, B. 1994.The Body Keeps The Score: Memory & the Evolving Psychobiology of Post Traumatic Stress. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 1(5), 253-265.

[4] Bradshaw, G.A. & A. N. Schore. 2007. How Elephants are Opening Doors: Developmental Neuroethology, Attachment, and Social context. Ethology, 113: 426-436.

[5] Bradshaw, G.A., & R. M. Sapolsky. 2007. Mirror, Mirror. American Scientist. 94(6): 487-489.

[6] Bradshaw, G.A. 2009. Kin Under Skin: What elephants and humans have in common. Forbes Magazine. September 13, 2009. http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/12/science-elephants-humans-opinions-contributors-neurobiology.html

[7] Krystal, H. 2004. Optimizing Affect Function in the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Trauma, in Living with Terror, Working with Trauma: A Clinician's Handbook, Danielle Knafo, ed. Lanham, Md.: Bowman and Littlefield, pp. 283-96.

Photo Credit: Zoocheck Canada

Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/37465

Links:

[1] http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/12/science-elephants-humans-opinions-contributors-neurobiology.html

[2] http://www.zoocheck.com/campaigns_elephant.html

[3] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/teaser/2010/01/lucy-behind-barscropped.gif

[4] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/bear-in-mind

It has now been more than two years since Samantha, the female African elephant who lived with Lucy at the Valley Zoo, was shipped to the North Carolina Zoo. Samantha enjoys far more space than she ever had in Edmonton, natural grass covered ground, long sightlines and the company of other elephants, while Lucy remains in social isolation in a small, barren exhibit in Edmonton. To view short video clips of Samantha taken in September 2009, click on the YouTube links below.

VIDEO   1    2    3    4    5

Steven F. E. Phipps

Barrister and Solicitor

The City of Edmonton Law Branch

9th Floor, Chancery Hall

3 Sir Winston Churchill Square

Edmonton, Alberta

T5J 2C3

 

Dear Mr. Phipps,

 

We thank you for your response to our letter of October 20, 2009, advising us that the City of Edmonton will not consent to having Lucy moved to a sanctuary.

 

We have seen Lucy’s treatment program and James Oosterhuis’ report posted on the city’s Web site.

 

We condemn the Edmonton Valley Zoo for failing to have a treatment program for Lucy until now. The zoo has known that Lucy has suffered from respiratory problems for years but has waited until now, when litigation has been threatened, to take any action.

 

Nonetheless, we remain singularly concerned about Lucy’s well-being. If the city’s claim is true—that moving Lucy could endanger her health—then neither PETA nor Zoocheck would have any need to proceed with the litigation. Similarly, we are certain that your taxpayers would not want to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on unnecessary litigation.

 

Therefore, would you be so kind as to provide us with all relevant documents that support Mr. Oosterhuis’ and the city’s conclusion that Lucy is too sick to be moved? We include in this request (but do not limit it to) the details of all medical examinations of Lucy, all medical records relied upon and generated during the course of this expert's consultation, a copy of the DVD of the endoscope exam, and all memoranda or letters between Mr. Oosterhuis and the zoo and/or the city.

 

We, naturally, want to have our experts review the opinion you are relying upon. But we can only do that if we have the necessary information. If, upon receipt of all the requested records and documents, we agree with your expert’s conclusions that Lucy is too ill to be moved, we will abandon the contemplated litigation.

 

We want to give you time to gather this material and to make sure it is complete. Given the new developments in this matter, we will not initiate litigation for another month, until December 14, 2009.

 

We look forward to your response.

 

Yours truly,

                            

Lisa Wathne                                                         

Captive Exotic Animal Specialist                            

PETA                                                                  

206-367-0228                                                                                           

LisaW@peta.org                                               

 

Julie Woodyer

Campaigns Director

Zoocheck Canada

416-285-1744         

julie@zoocheck.com

Groups Hire Clayton Ruby to Take On the Zoo in Fight to Save Lonely, Ailing Elephant Lucy

Edmonton, Alberta — The ongoing battle to give Lucy the elephant the protections she deserves—and that PETA and Zoocheck believe she is entitled to under the law—just heated up. That's because PETA and Zoocheck Canada have retained nationally renowned civil- and animal-rights attorney Clayton Ruby to opine on the legal obligation of the City of Edmonton to relieve Lucy's suffering—and if necessary, to take legal action against the city in an effort to apply Alberta's Animal Protection Act (APA) and force the Edmonton Valley Zoo to better care for Lucy. Lucy has lived alone at the zoo for the past two years and suffers from upper respiratory problems, arthritis, obesity, and chronic foot ailments—the leading cause of death among captive elephants. She also exhibits behaviour that indicates severe psychological distress.

"In what appears to be a clear violation of Alberta law, the Edmonton Valley Zoo has not taken the required steps to relieve Lucy's distress and suffering," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "The zoo has proved repeatedly that it is either unwilling or unable to care for Lucy. The only way to ensure that Lucy's suffering doesn't continue—and that her conditions don't eventually kill her—is to transfer her to a sanctuary."

In a letter sent this morning, PETA and Zoocheck informed Mayor Mandel and the City Councillors that the APA states, "No person shall cause or permit an animal of which the person is the owner or the person in charge to be or to continue to be in distress." The letter also pointed out that the Government of Alberta Standards for Zoos in Alberta states, "All animals must be maintained in numbers sufficient to meet their social and behavioural needs." In the letter, PETA and Zoocheck asserted that they intend to seek legal means, if necessary, to ensure the city is in compliance with these provisions.

Lucy spends most of her life alone in a small, enclosed barn. At a sanctuary, she would enjoy the company of other elephants and the freedom to roam over acres of land. PETA and Zoocheck want the zoo's elephant exhibit permanently closed because Edmonton's climate is inappropriate for elephants and the zoo cannot meet the biological, behavioural, and social needs of these intelligent and gregarious giants. Since 1991, 14 North American zoos have closed their elephant exhibits or announced plans to phase them out, citing their inability to cater to this complex species.

For more information, including PETA's and Zoocheck's letter to Mayor Mandel and the City Councillors, Mr. Ruby's letter of intent, and his draft application, see the attachments below, or contact:

Lisa Wathne                       

206-367-0228        

LisaW@peta.org (PETA)

Julie Woodyer         

416-451-5976

julie@zoocheck.com (Zoocheck Canada)