On Monday December 1, the Budget & Finance Committee voted in favor of halting the renovation of the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit. This is an important step toward our goal of shutting down the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit and freeing Billy from his miserable, barren pen.
Please attend this final city council meeting on Wednesday to show public support for ending Billy's decades of intense and unnatural confinement at the zoo. We need to encourage city officials to do the right thing!
Considering the City of L.A.'s dire economic straits, we just cannot afford to build a $42 million elephant exhibit, paid for with taxpayer money, that still will be too small for elephants. Help stop this ill-advised exhibit where elephants will only continue to suffer and die prematurely.
Too many 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 spends his days repetitively bobbing his head up and down in a tiny zoo pen. A win means he will be able to start a new life in a natural-habitat sanctuary where he'll have the space, natural conditions and companionship that all elephants so desperately need.
Help free Billy and keep future elephants from suffering at L.A. Zoo! Don't stop your efforts now!
L.A. Zoo Elephant Vote: Final City Council Vote Will Be Wednesday, Dec. 3rd.
Final vote by L.A. City Council
Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 10am
L.A. City Hall
200 N. Spring Street
L.A., 90012
John Ferraro Council Chamber
Room 340
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
1. Attend the final city council meeting on Wednesday.
2. Speak at the meeting during public comment.
3. Call and write the mayor and all of city council on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Please keep your communications concise and polite. Get five friends (or more) to send emails and make phone calls to express their support for shutting down the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit.
If you (or your friends) 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 council member on-line, visit www.lacity.org and scroll 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.
Talking Points:
* The City of L.A. just cannot afford to waste $42 million in taxpayer money on an elephant exhibit that still won't provide the space elephants need to truly thrive.
* Too many elephants have suffered and died prematurely at the L.A. Zoo, many due to painful health problems caused by inadequate conditions including pens that are far too small. These problems will continue in the renovated exhibit because it still will be too small for elephants.
* The city council is in the unique position to help Billy, an elephant who has spent years in solitary confinement in a tiny zoo pen where he constantly bobs his head up and down, an abnormal behavior not seen in the wild.
* The City of Los Angeles has made great strides toward becoming more humane. Now it's time to include elephants by closing the elephant exhibit and sending Billy to a sanctuary as soon as possible.
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
EMAIL BLOCK (does not include Council member Alarcon; use contact form for him as indicated below):
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 visit IDA to learn more about elephants in zoos, a nationwide problem.
Resource: IDA
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