SHAME ON L.A. CITY MAYOR KAREN BASS!
EMAIL THE MAYOR USING THIS FORM - AND ALSO CALL HER OFFICE AT 213-978-0600
UPDATE 5/21/2025: In a brazen and sneaky move lacking transparency and accountability, Billy and Tina were moved to the Tulsa Zoo shortly after midnight on 5/20/2025. The beloved L.A. Zoo elephants were forced into crates, loaded onto a semi-truck, and driven a grueling 26 hours to Tulsa.
The lack of transparency displayed by Mayor Bass and L.A. City Zoo Director Denise Verret regarding the transfer of Billy and Tina is shocking and unacceptable. The L.A. Zoo is partially funded by taxpayer dollars, yet Mayor Bass did not listen or give any regard to the thousands of people who urged her to send Billy and Tina to a sanctuary.
Mayor Bass could have set a precedent by sending Billy and Tina to an accredited sanctuary, where they would have had a chance to heal from the decades of trauma and suffering brought on by captivity, but instead she chose to send them to another zoo, where their cycle of suffering in captivity will be perpetuated.
No zoo, regardless of its accreditation, facilities, or staff, can replicate the vast space or social freedom of an elephant's natural habitat. Accredited sanctuaries exist solely to allow animals like Billy and Tina to live out the remainder of their lives in peace and dignity.
BACKGROUND: Both Billy and Tina were ripped from the wild in Asia at a young age and brought to the U.S. Tina was trafficked into the circus in 1969 at one-year-old, and endured years of circus abuse before arriving at the L.A. Zoo in 2010. Billy was four-years-old when he arrived at the L.A. Zoo in 1989. Both are in poor health and suffer from chronic health conditions, including brain damage caused by severe zoochosis.
EMAIL THE MAYOR USING THIS FORM - BUT ALSO CALL HER OFFICE AT 213-978-0600
PHONE CALL SAMPLE MESSAGE: "My name is _____ and I’m calling on behalf of Billy and Tina, the two L.A. Zoo elephants who have been suffering for decades in captivity. Unfortunately, your office denied allowing Billy and Tina the chance to live the remainder of their lives in peace and dignity at a sanctuary and instead sent them to another zoo, where their cycle of suffering in captivity will be perpetuated. Voters like me will remember that you caved to the L.A. City Zoo Director, Denise Verret, and did not have the courage to stand up for Billy and Tina. You will be remembered as a Mayor who was on the wrong side of history."
