Please send the email below to Justin Trudeau and the Finance Minister, and cc CAZA, the Zoo Director, Free the Wild and Zoocheck to let them know you're against any additional funding of EVZ as long as they refuse free expert assistance.
TO: justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca; chrystia.freeland@canada.ca
CC: jfacette@caza.ca; gary.dewar@edmonton.ca; zoocheck@zoocheck.com; info@freethewild.org
BCC: panelofvets4lucy@gmail.com; tj2vegas@hotmail.com
SUBJECT: CAZA Request for 2021-22 Financial Support
The Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums asked its member zoos to write to you and ask that you continue to subsidize their operations for the next 12 months due to reduced revenue during the pandemic. I find it hypocritical and an abuse of public funds for CAZA to make this request while the Edmonton Valley Zoo has refused Free the Wild's offer of a FREE expert veterinary assessment of Lucy the elephant.
They have also refused similar offers in the past from Zoocheck and other organizations. Should the expert vet assessment find Lucy is fit to travel, Zoocheck and the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee have offered to cover the costs of her relocation to the sanctuary, saving the zoo an additional $250,000 per year.
They would also finally be in compliance with CAZA's regulation on not keeping a female elephant alone, as Lucy has been since 2007. Lucy is no longer on public display, so there is no reason for the zoo to incur the unnecessary expense to keep her in Edmonton if an independent panel of experts give Lucy the green light to be moved. I urge you not to subsidize CAZA until they explain why they've refused free expert assistance while asking for assistance from taxpayers instead.