Attention all animal lovers in Los Angeles:
Please help get Billy, the last (and very lonely) elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo sent to an elephant sanctuary for his remaining days, and to close permanently the Zoo's elephant exhibit, ranked among the worst in the country.
The following is from the In Defense of Animals website:
Please attend these two very important meetings. It's critical that we have as many people as possible at both:
WHAT: Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee meeting
WHEN: Tuesday, January 27th, 3pm
WHERE: L.A. City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, L.A. 90012, John Ferraro Council Chamber, Room 340
WHAT: L.A. City Council meeting and final vote on shutting down the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit
WHEN: Wednesday, January 28th, 10am
WHERE: L.A. City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, L.A., 90012, John Ferraro Council Chamber, Room 340
SPEAK OUT: Please be prepared to speak for 1 minute during public comment. Keep your comments concise, positive, and focused on your support for closing down the elephant exhibit and sending Billy to a sanctuary. Arrive early enough to complete a public comment card.
Zoo supporters will be out in large numbers (the zoo hires buses to bring them in). Let's be sure that our voices outnumber theirs to show clear and strong support for ending Billy's years of isolation and deprivation!
L.A. City Council member Tony Cardenas has presented a motion to stop the L.A. Zoo's $42 million elephant exhibit renovation. Despite its mammoth price tag and expense to taxpayers, it still will not provide the space elephants need, and elephants will continue to suffer and die painful, premature deaths at the zoo.
Fifteen elephants have died at the L.A. Zoo. More than half never lived to age 20. Elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years. Billy is held in solitary confinement, where he spends his days repetitively bobbing his head up and down in a tiny pen. If the council votes to close the elephant exhibit, Billy will be able to start a new life in a natural-habitat sanctuary where he'll have the space and natural conditions that all elephants so desperately need.
Also ...
WRITE/CALL THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Tell the City Council that taxpayers don't want their money wasted on an elephant exhibit that still doesn't give elephants the space they need. Please send emails and make phone calls to express your support for shutting down the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit.
If you don't live in the City of L.A., please contact the mayor and L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti (contact info provided below) and express your support for closing the elephant exhibit and sending Billy to a sanctuary.
To locate your councilmember on-line, visit http://www.lacity.org/ and scroll down to "My Neighborhood" and enter your address. You can also dial 311 within the City of Los Angeles, or call 213-473-3231 from the Greater Los Angeles area.
SAMPLE MESSAGE (please personalize as much as possible; tell your council member that you are a constituent):
I support halting construction of the $42 million elephant exhibit at the L.A. Zoo and sending the elephant, Billy, to a sanctuary. Please don't waste taxpayer dollars on an elephant exhibit that still won't give elephants the room they need. I urge you to vote to stop construction of the exhibit and to send Billy to a spacious elephant sanctuary, where he can live a life closer to what nature intended.
PHONE MESSAGE (when calling your council member's office, please identify yourself as a constituent)
Keep it simple: "I am asking the councilmember to please vote to halt the construction of the elephant exhibit at the L.A. Zoo and send Billy to a sanctuary."
CONTACTS:
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Los Angeles City Hall
200 N. Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 213-978-0600 Fax: 213-978-0750
Email: mayor@lacity.org
councilmember.reyes@lacity.org; councilmember.greuel@lacity.org; councilmember.zine@lacity.org; councilmember.labonge@lacity.org; councilmember.weiss@lacity.org; councilmember.parks@lacity.org; councilmember.cardenas@lacity.org; jan.perry@lacity.org; councilmember.wesson@lacity.org; councilmember.rosendahl@lacity.org; councilmember.smith@lacity.org; councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org; councilmember.huizar@lacity.org; councilmember.hahn@lacity.org; mayor@lacity.org
District 1 - Ed Reyes
Phone: 213-473-7001 Fax: 213-485-8907
Email: councilmember.reyes@lacity.org
District 2 - Wendy Greuel
Phone: 213-473-7002 Fax: 213-680-7895
Email: councilmember.greuel@lacity.org
District 3 - Dennis P. Zine
Phone: 213-473-7003 Fax: 213-
Email: councilmember.zine@lacity.org
District 4 - Tom LaBonge
Phone: 213-473-7004 Fax: 213-624-7810
Email: councilmember.labonge@lacity.org
District 5 - Jack Weiss
Phone: 213-473-7005 Fax: 213-978-2250
Email: councilmember.weiss@lacity.org
District 6 - Tony Cardenas - ORIGINATOR OF THE MOTION
Phone: 213-473-7006 Fax: 213-847-0549
Email: councilmember.cardenas@lacity.org
District 7 - Richard Alarcon
Phone: 213-473-7007 Fax: 213-847-0707
Email: (use contact form at www.lacity.org/council/cd7/contact.htm)
District 8 - Bernard Parks
Phone: 213-473-7008 Fax: 213-485-7683
Email: councilmember.parks@lacity.org
District 9 - Jan Perry
Phone: 213-473-7009 Fax: 213-473-5946
Email: jan.perry@lacity.org
District 10 - Herb J. Wesson, Jr.
Phone: 213-473-7010 Fax: 213-485-9829
Email: councilmember.wesson@lacity.org
District 11 - Bill Rosendahl
Phone: 213-473-7011 Fax: 213-473-6926
Email: councilmember.rosendahl@lacity.org
District 12 - Greig Smith
Phone: 213-473-7012 Fax: 213-473-6925
Email: councilmember.smith@lacity.org
District 13 - Eric Garcetti
Phone: 213-473-7013 Fax: 213-613-0819
Email: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org
District 14 - Jose Huizar
Phone: 213-473-7014 Fax: 213-847-0680
Email: councilmember.huizar@lacity.org
District 15 - Janice Hahn
Phone: 213-473-7015 Fax: 213-626-5431
Email: councilmember.hahn@lacity.org
Thank you for taking action to help rescue Billy and shut down the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit! Please email zoos@idausa.org with any questions or call 323-301-5730.
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