By Jake Richardson •
March 15, 2009
On Saturday Pamela Anderson appeared at a fundraiser and 20th anniversary for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. Prior to her appearance, she had written to the governor of Florida on behalf of chimps there held in roadside ‘zoos’ for tourists.
In her statement she said, “PETA and I appeal to you to take action to prevent Florida’s roadside zoos from keeping great apes, and to ensure that these intelligent primates are transferred to approved sanctuaries to live out the remainder of their lives in suitable surroundings.” Anderson has worked for a number of years with PETA to raise awareness about animal cruelty.
By Marika Collins •
January 28, 2009
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.
By Alex Felsinger •
January 27, 2009
The Los Angeles Zoo’s controversial $42-million Pachyderm Forest development, which would house their lone asian elephant named Billy, has attracted a number of celebrity endorsements, including Guns n’ Roses’ guitarist Slash.
But today we learned that the animal rights side of the table, which wants to send Billy to the Performing Animal Welfare Society to spend his days with other elephants, has some heavyweight celebrity backing of their own: long-time animal activist and television personality Bob Barker says he will donate $1.5 million to help move Billy to the sanctuary.
