Get Tina and Jewel Out of the Circus

Tina and Jewel are Asian elephants in their early forties who have endured lives of hardship and abuse traveling with the Cole Brothers Circus. They were ordered off the road by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier this year, following many months of being observed to be looking gaunt, sick and broken. They are now enduring conditions that will only damage what remains of their fragile health. Please help us get these elephants sanctuary.

USDA inspection reports on both Tina and Jewel document the abusive and negligent treatment to which these elephants have been subjected over the past decade and a half. They have been beaten with bullhooks and other objects like a baseball bat and PVC pipe, and had their medical needs ignored, resulting in severe weight loss, among other problems. The circus did not even perform legally-required testing for tuberculosis, endangering both the health of the elephants and the people who are in contact with them.

Life under these abusive conditions has taken its toll on Tina and Jewel. During the summer and fall of 2006, while traveling with Cole Brothers Circus, both elephants appeared unhealthy and dramatically thinner than usual. In spring 2007, they reappeared in the L.E. Barnes and Bailey Circus looking even worse.

In March 2007, the USDA ordered that Jewel be taken off the road, noting that she had lost an appalling 2,000 pounds. A veterinary expert confirmed that both elephants had suffered "alarming weight loss" and advised taking both elephants off the road immediately for urgent veterinary care.

Following this order, Jewel and Tina disappeared from public view. After months of searching, IDA located them on July 25th in rural Texas at an unapproved facility owned by the Davenports, another family with a history of horrible animal abuse who have been leasing Tina and Jewel from Cole since January 2006.

When IDA located the elephants, they had already spent several months confined to a tiny outdoor yard enclosed by electrical hotwire, surrounded by circus refuse and other garbage, or locked inside a dilapidated tin barn. There was no shade outside and no ventilation inside, and no water to drink or cool off with in the Texas summer. IDA has since learned that a window has been cut into the barn for ventilation and that Tina and Jewel have been given access to a slightly larger outdoor enclosure. Still, the conditions remain grim and woefully inadequate for these two ailing elephants.

Four of five other elephants that have been "retired" from the Cole Bros. Circus have died, most within weeks of being taken off the road. IDA is gravely concerned that Jewel and Tina will meet the same fate if they are left at the mercy of an industry with a long history of abusing elephants and violating federal animal welfare laws. Both elephants have lost significant amounts of weight, but whatever condition is causing this remains undiagnosed, and untreated. Tina and Jewel's survival is at stake, and they desperately need our help now!

What You Can Do

1) Please "Take Action" to urge your federal representative to ask the USDA to intervene on Tina and Jewel's behalf. You can also contact your elected officials by phone and postal mail.

2) Please "Take Action" to demand that the USDA immediately confiscate these two elephants and send them to The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) in Tennessee, a USDA-approved quarantine facility for elephants that has a proven track record of rehabilitating elephants who have become debilitated from years of life in the circus or zoo. To have the most impact, edit the sample letter to express your personal point of view and print it out as a letter to mail.

The Honorable Chuck Conner
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Tel: (202) 720-3631
Email: chuck.conner@usda.gov

3) Learn more about what Tina and Jewel have suffered at the hands of the circus industry.

4) Read a letter from The Elephant Sanctuary stating it will accept Tina and Jewel immediately.