Herstory
Lucy's Neglect and Exploitation
Lucy's story at Edmonton Valley Zoo begins in March 1977. The zoo was making plans to expand and add a "2-year-old Indian elephant" to their collection by June.
How shocking are the zoo manager's comments about housing tropical animals in unheated buildings? "Their own body heat will keep them warm inside."
Edmonton Valley Zoo claim they only use the bull hook as a "guide" these days but from the start it was used by Lucy's trainer to "control" the two-year-old elephant. In fact, when Lucy was donated to the zoo by a local developer, an elephant hook was PRESENTED TO THE MAYOR to mark the occasion!
Amarjeet Sohi could make this a full circle moment by being the Edmonton Mayor who throws away the bull hook and lets Lucy go to sanctuary once a panel of elephant experts give her the all clear to travel.
After losing her family in Sri Lanka and being shipped to a strange city in another hemisphere, Baby Lucy spent her first year being chained down and trained to do tricks and give rides. The headline says it all when it comes to the cold Edmonton climate no Asian elephant should be subjected to. The zoo knew she hated the cold but they even let Lucy's ears get frostbitten.
In 2015, Edmonton Valley Zoo made headlines when they refused to even let Lucy try on a custom-made coat donated for her by Friends of Lucy. The zoo's spokeswoman Debi Winwood issued a statement rejecting the coat, saying, "Lucy’s barn is spacious and warm with a heated padded floor. This is not an item required for Lucy’s well-being or care."
Back in 1978, the zoo knew that Lucy needed protection from the cold, snow and ice outside of her "warm barn". Not only did they cover her with a coat, they had special boots for her feet. So when did they stop providing that winter clothing for her? When it became too much work and too inconvenient for them? What about what was best for Lucy?
How does a four-year-old elephant escape from her zoo enclosure for over an hour? Edmonton Valley Zoo certainly was "minimum security", accidentally leaving a door open. All poor Lucy was trying to do was browse on some fresh branches, something that's still denied to her today in her barren enclosure. It wouldn't have been so funny if she had "accidentally" injured or killed somebody, or been killed herself due to the zoo's neglect.
It's no surprise to learn that it took the involvement of the local Board of Health to make the City of Edmonton stop cutting the zoo's capital budget. Unsanitary conditions and the risk of disease and cross-infections finally forced them to approve long-delayed improvements.
While there's no doubt this experience was "wonderful" for the blind boy, did Edmonton Valley Zoo even consider how Lucy felt having her ear pulled, her trunk tugged, and a stranger riding on her back? How many times was Lucy tormented during private visits like this over the past 45 years?
Is this what Edmonton Valley Zoo calls educational? How demeaning to dress up this highly intelligent elephant in a Klondike Kate outfit for the entertainment of their visitors.
By the time Lucy was 11 years old, Edmonton Valley Zoo was already unable to control her weight gain. Obesity is a leading killer of elephants in captivity. Lucy's weight gain is unavoidable because the time she can go outside for exercise is limited by Edmonton's long winters and cold temperatures.
As we know now, elephant spines aren't designed to support the weight of people. By riding Lucy, her keepers could have caused permanent spinal injuries.
What do you do when your 27 year old elephant develops painful arthritis? If you're the Edmonton Valley Zoo, you exploit her health condition by using it for a fundraiser to benefit humans with the same condition. Prizes include a personal visit with Lucy and a Lucy painting! The zoo claims to educate the public, but they neglected to mention that arthritis is only "common" in elephants in captivity, not in the wild. The zoo is the reason Lucy has arthritis.
Trust the Edmonton Valley Zoo to allow researchers to poke and prod Lucy for an hour, put electrodes on her skin and stimulate the nerve to her leg muscles through an acupuncture needle attached to the back of her knee for an INCONCLUSIVE study. Sadly, Lucy's "easy-going nature" has made her a victim of the zoo's exploitation for the past 45 years.
