LA City Council Votes to Keep Billy the Elephant Confined
Despite extensive opposition and the rallying of animal activists and Hollywood celebrities alike, Los Angeles City Council voted today to go ahead with a $42 million elephant exhibit. About $12 million has already been spent towards the completion of the new exhibit, which is now 30 percent done.
Council also decided that the city will continue to keep Billy the elephant confined at the zoo instead of sending him to an animal sanctuary where he would have been afforded more space to roam. The planned six acre exhibit would be seven times larger than Billy’s current enclosure and feature approximately four acres of open space. Opponents argue that this falls far short of an elephant’s space requirements.
