Lily Tomlin | 08/20/2008 9:45 am

An Update on Jenny the Elephant

I wanted to post this recent e-mail from Concerned Citizens for Jenny, the elephant I posted about last week. Click here to read more about Jenny and then read the e-mail below.

The video below was taken by Jaime, a Concerned Citizen for Jenny, one week ago (see link below). Great job, Jaime.

As you can see from the video, Jenny is not doing well at all. One can’t help but notice her repetitive swaying, a sign of great anxiety and stress in an elephant.

We must retire Jenny to the Elephant Sanctuary ASAP. She is languishing her life away at the zoo. Time is of the essence. We must attend City Council each Wednesday afternoon in droves and contact the City government by the thousands.

Please civilly telephone, fax and e-mail the mayor and city council daily and urge them to immediately retire Jenny to TES.

Contact these city officials repeatedly until they do the right thing.
Contact info at: concernedcitizensforjenny.net

Thank you.
Margaret
Founder, Concerned Citizens for Jenny

Read more about: Animals, Change the World, Jenny the Elephant, Video

144 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

i am not certain, but there is a good possibility the zoo has/may reverse its decision on sending jenny to mexico..what a travesty.. write the mayor of dallas…keep fingers and toes crossed and re-crossed that jenny can be where she should be!!!

By theCHEROKEErose on 08/20/2008 8:51 am

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I haven’t read through all the posts today so not sure if anyone has seen this news. Sounds like they are keeping Jenny in Dallas! What a shame. Dallas Zoo drops plan to ship elephant to Mexico - http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/elephant_fight DALLAS – Jenny the lonely elephant, whose pending move from the Dallas Zoo to Mexico had angered activists, isn’t going anywhere after all. The Dallas Zoo announced Wednesday that the roughly 10,000-pound pachyderm will remain at her home of 22 years and will eventually get a new companion. The decision to keep the elephant in Dallas “serves Jenny’s best interests,” said Gregg Hudson, the zoo’s executive director. Dallas Zoo officials had planned to ship Jenny to a wildlife park in Mexico after her companion died in May. African elephants become unhappy when left alone. But activists ripped the plan, saying Jenny is nervous and fears cars, and would be miserable at the drive-through park in Mexico where the Dallas Zoo planned to send her. Protests were held in front of the Dallas Zoo last month. Dallas Zoo officials said they have now expedited plans for a new elephant habitat, which would include a new companion for Jenny.

By Slim Pickins on 08/20/2008 6:13 pm

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Oh crap, damn, and hell.

By Kryssi K on 08/21/2008 12:47 am

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By Slim Pickins on 08/20/2008 6:13 pm

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To All Of You! I’m going to post all the phone # of the City Council members and Mayor Tom Leppert. Mary Suhm is the City Mgr. Dr. Elba Garcia and Councilmember Dwayne Carraway have the zoo in their district. Angela Hunt has been in support of Jenny from the beginning. You all have been and done more than Jenny migh’ve hoped for. Thanks and love, Lily CITY OF DALLAS MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS 214 670 5111 Main # which will connect you to any Council member. 2005-2007 Revised June 26, 2007 (these # current at time of posting) TOM LEPPERT, MAYOR 214/670-4054 1500 Marilla St., Room 5EN, 75201 214/670-0646 fax DR. ELBA GARCIA, MAYOR PRO TEM — Place 1 214/670-4052 1500 Marilla St., Room 5EN, 75201 214/670-3409 fax DWAINE R. CARAWAY, DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM — Place 4 214/670-0781 1500 Marilla St., Room 5EN, 75201 214/670-3409 fax PAULINE MEDRANO — Place 2 214/670-4048 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FN, 75201 214/670-5117 fax DAVE NEUMANN — Place 3 214/670-0776 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FS, 75201 214/670-5115 fax VONCIEL JONES HILL — Place 5 214/670-0777 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FN, 75201 214/670-5117 fax STEVE SALAZAR — Place 6 214/670-4199 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FS, 75201 214/670-5115 fax CAROLYN R. DAVIS — Place 7 214/670-4689 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FS, 75201 214/670-5115 fax TENNELL ATKINS — Place 8 214/670-4066 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FS, 75201 214/670-5115 fax SHEFFIE KADANE — Place 9 214/670-4069 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FS, 75201 214/670-5115 fax JERRY R. ALLEN — Place 10 214/670-4068 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FS, 75201 214/670-5115 fax LINDA KOOP — Place 11 214/670-7817 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FN, 75201 214/670-5117 fax RON NATINSKY — Place 12 214/670-4067 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FN, 75201 214/670-5117 fax MITCHELL RASANSKY— Place 13 214/670-3816 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FN, 75201 214/670-5117 fax ANGELA HUNT — Place 14 214/670-5415 1500 Marilla St., Room 5FN, 75201 214/670-5117 fax Effective 06/25/07

By Edith Ann on 08/20/2008 10:08 pm

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Edith Ann, You are the busiest little girl that I know. Tomorrow I will be busy too. I’ll bet the lines will be busy. Here’s a good start for a joke “How many Dallas City Council Members does it take to move an elephant?” I guess tomorrow we will get started and find out. Hey Edith Ann, do you know any good elephant jokes?

By Frannie Em on 08/21/2008 1:01 am

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I have a REALLY dumb question, thanks to my lack of experience in dealing with politics of this nature (beyond sending my local representative an, uh, eloquent email every once in a while, that is): does one have to be an actual citizen of [Dallas, in this case] to attend city council meetings? Oh God. I did not just publicly ask that……

By Kryssi K on 08/21/2008 1:01 am

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Public meetings are open to the public, Kryssi, per each state’s Open Meetings Act. Usually, the only time a public council can meet privately is for a set of reasons listed in the state’s Act, such as, “to discuss pending litigation,” “to discuss personnel matters,” etcetera.

By James the Game on 08/21/2008 11:15 pm

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Lily, you HAVE been busy! :) Thanks for all the numbers. I will try to call as many as I can.

By Serena . on 08/21/2008 4:30 am

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Here’s a new quote from Angela Hunt, Dallas Councilwoman (ph: 214/670-5415 214/670-5117 fax) “Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt, one of the people who advocates for sending Jenny to the Tennessee facility, said she is not happy with the zoo’s decision. “She may die of old age before she sees her new home constructed,” Hunt said. “She has the opportunity to live on 300 acres of Tennessee countryside, but it’s become so politicized that the Dallas Zoo has taken a very cowardly decision by making no decision at all and keeping her in Dallas.” Margaret Morin, founder of Concerned Citizens for Jenny, said she would continue to fight to try to get Jenny moved to the facility in Tennessee — a place where she said was the right one for Jenny. “It’s the right thing to do,” Morin said. She said it was shocking to her that the zoo continued to avoid doing the right thing for Jenny.”

By No Way-No How -No McCain on 08/21/2008 5:26 am

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Have been doing Google search. Lots of news coverage. Not all gives the pertinent facts: 32 yrs old, stolen from her mother in the wild while young, made a circus performer, her space in the Dallas Zoo is very undersized, she has had long term emotional problems, including afraid of cars and noise, her mate dying etc. Dallas Councilwoman Angela Hunt is trying to bring the issue before the council. Most of the news stories are similiar. If want to differentiate and kind of kick it to a new level—-I think wOw women work to buy Jenny—is a good angle. And it’s PR for wOw too. So what do you all think about this: ACTION ITEMS: 1) Do a few of our great writers volunteer to draft a 250 word PR release? Need a bit of background from Linda’s research on how one goes about trying to buy elephant (I think the point is a new slant…doesn’t matter if really buy Jenny…or set up trust fund just keep pressure on City Council to move her to sanctuary) 2) Do others have input on what points should go into the release? Clever slant? Clever title? Can we conflate it with the Prez race somehow: i.e. we have an elephant and a jackass of an idea 3) Someone needs to volunteer to be the spokesperson contact on PR release/ Any volunteers? 4) Any volunteers to email the PR release to the news outlets listed above I think. We can divide the list to make it a quick job. 5) Timing? It’s Thurs. If have PR release written/Posted by Monday 9AM EST we can all email out to the media list before 11AM EST.

By No Way-No How -No McCain on 08/21/2008 6:05 am

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Hi Winery. I for one appreciate all your dedication and planning in this, and I really like your action items. However, I’m just thinking that Lily has access to a lot of resources, and I know she reads our posts ‘cause she’s just good like that, still, it seems to me she keeps nugging us to write to the Mayor and City Council. So, unless Lily urges us to do something differently, I think maybe we should just follow her lead. I’m just thinking she has more insight into this than many of us, and she probably knows what’s best for Jenny right now. Know what I mean? Again, I LOVE your ideas and I personally appreciate your efforts. I think if it comes time for us to band together and purchase Jenny—if we could—Lily will let us know and lead the way. I will be more than willing to help by any and all means possible. :) I wish I could do more than what I have, but work gets in the way of my personal life and causes! :)

By Serena . on 08/21/2008 9:31 am

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nudging, not nugging … I’m a goober.

By Serena . on 08/21/2008 9:33 am

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okay, third time is a charm … Lily is nudging us to write AND call the Mayor and City Council. Geez, when I start screwing up more than I help . . time for me to GO.

By Serena . on 08/21/2008 9:48 am

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My apologies for jumping the line, but I wanted all to see this. George W. Bush and Laura will be returning to Dallas in January. His presidential library will be built in connection with Southern Methodist University. Everything in Dallas is political and for the most part rather superficial. The person to contact who knows how to rally the activists is former Mayor Laura Miller. A lot of people didn’t like her, but they respected her. This will take a call from Lily to be most effective. Personally, I think the current mayor is afraid to do anything with the Bushes coming back to town. Ross Perot, another stellar Dallas citizen. Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks would probably get behind this. I will search for numbers. Actually, I’m not so sure that Laura wouldn’t help if Lily reached out to her. I can’t help recognizing the symbolism of the elephant and the GOP. Also last year or the year before, a gorilla escaped from his ‘natural habitat’ in the Dallas Zoo mauling several people……..I’ll research the details, but an example of the zoo not being the best judge of ‘habitats’ Police killed the gorilla. Terrible situation and perhaps the zoo is evading another charge at their expertise. More later..what a wonderful group of women you are. Peace and grace

By beth willis on 08/21/2008 10:39 am