Raising awareness about elephants

To the Editor:

Aug. 3 is “Elephant Awareness Day,” and there are many good reasons to pay tribute to these magnificent animals.

Elephants are highly social animals who lavish affection and attention on their family members. In the wild, each day is filled with socializing, exploring, playing and participating in other activities. Every birth is a celebration and deaths of loved ones are mourned. Elephants’ level of self-awareness continues to amaze researchers worldwide.

In circuses and zoos, rather than roaming for miles every day, elephants live in chains and can’t take a step forward or back or in cages smaller than most Walmart parking lots. Most captive elephants sway constantly and develop debilitating foot and joint problems from standing on hard surfaces for extended periods and from lack of exercise. People who care about elephants should never buy a ticket to a circus that profits from their pain or to a zoo that keep the world’s largest land mammal in cramped pens.

Sincerely,
Jennifer O'Connor
PETA Foundation