Combined with the disappearance from public view of Beulah and Karen, the report raises questions we urge the Commerford Zoo to answer: (1) Where are Beulah and Karen? (2) Are Beulah and Karen alive and healthy?
The Nonhuman Rights Project has become deeply concerned about the health
and well-being of our clients Beulah, Karen, and Minnie, three elephants
imprisoned and exploited by a Connecticut-based traveling circus called the
Commerford Zoo. Our most pressing concerns are for Beulah, whose last known
public appearance was in October of 2018 at the Topsfield Fair in
Massachusetts, and Karen, whose last known public appearance was in July of
2018 at the Meadowlands State Fair in New Jersey.
Only Minnie has been seen in public this summer at a parade in Springfield,
PA, the negative public response to which resulted in the Springfield
Republican Party deciding to end its business relationship with the
Commerford Zoo.
Additionally, the most recent Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) site inspection report of the Commerford Zoo's property in Goshen
indicates the presence of only one Asian elephant on a day (April 29, 2019)
when the Commerford Zoo appears to have scheduled no off-site events.
Combined with the disappearance from public view of Beulah and Karen, the
report raises questions we urge the Commerford Zoo to answer: (1) Where are
Beulah and Karen? (2) Are Beulah and Karen alive and healthy?
We and other animal advocates will be paying close attention to who among
the Commerford Zoo's many exploited animals will be transported to the
upcoming Goshen Fair in Goshen, CT and Big E in West Springfield, MA. The
Commerford Zoo's presence at last year's Big E prompted widespread outrage
among many fairgoers, who were troubled by the animals' visibly poor health
and treatment, particularly Minnie limping as she was forced to give rides
and a Commerford Zoo employee yanking a camel named Lurch up from the
ground.
The USDA has cited the Commerford Zoo over 50 times for failing to adhere to
the minimum standards required by the Animal Welfare Act, including failing
to provide the elephants with adequate veterinary care. For the past decade,
numerous area residents have tried to raise awareness of the poor conditions
at the Commerford Zoo and sought to prevent it from coming to their
communities. Yelp reviews describe the elephants as 'sedated,' 'sick,' 'sad,'
and� the facilities as 'filthy' and a 'stockyard of despair,'� and the
experience itself 'an abomination.'�
For Beulah, Karen, and Minnie's sake, we hope the Commerford Zoo has used
them in events far less frequently because its proprietors finally recognize
how elephants suffer physically and emotionally when forced to perform and
give rides under threat of a bullhook. The Commerford Zoo's total lack of
accountability for its unjust treatment of these self-aware, autonomous
beings only underscores the need for recognition of their right to liberty
and release to the Performing Animal Welfare Society's sanctuary, where they
can begin to recover from the many traumas they have endured.
We ask anyone with information on the whereabouts and/or health and
well-being of the Commerford elephants to please contact the Nonhuman Rights
Project at [email protected].
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