Dear Friends; While the zoo collects letters from children to conserve and protect elephants in Africa and Asia, we are asking you to send letters and email to the USDA to rescue Ruthy from the zoo. Below, includes a letter that I would like you to sign and send to USDA. Please email, snail-mail or call USDA between now and August 12, 2014. And share with anyone and everyone. This is not a local issue anymore. A complaint filed by IDA resulted in a direct violation of the Animal Welfare Act in January. A subsequent complaint regarding Ruth’s frostbite, secondary infections, and the need to separate her from her exhibitmate Emily has not yet been resolved. Now we have filed a third complaint, citing the lack of adequate veterinary care as required under the Animal Welfare Act. Neither the vet nor the keepers recognize that Ruth is having difficulty walking. Consequently, she is not getting the medical care she needs and she suffers in silence. The lack of medical care is a direct violation of the Animal Welfare Act which the USDA enforces. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Chester A. Gipson, D.V.M., Deputy Administrator USDA-APHIS-AC 4700 River Rd., Unit 84 Riverdale, MD 20737-1234 Ph: 301-734-7833 • fax: 301-734-4993 Email: [email protected] DVM Deputy Administrator Chester Gipson: I respectfully ask USDA to seize Asian elephant Ruth from Buttonwood Park Zoo and relocate her to The Elephant Sanctuary where she may obtain appropriate nutritional/veterinary treatment from professional elephant caretakers. As you know, Ruth’s ordeal this year began when keepers failed to lock the barn door and she was found outside the next morning during a blizzard in subzero weather. She suffered severe hypothermia for five hours until she was resuscitated. She suffered frostbite over much of her body with the worst of it presenting on her ears, vulva and tail where her skin turned black and sloughed off, leaving raw tissue exposed. In late January, Ruth developed staphylococcus and streptococcus secondary infections on the raw exposed tissue of her ears, tail, and vulva, and ruptured boils and abscesses on the back of her legs. According to the medical records, the vet had to tell the keepers to wear gloves while treating her. Three weeks later, Ruth still had not received oral antibiotics ordered by the veterinarian, and no one, including the vet, knew Ruth hadn’t received the medication. As a result, the infections took hold and she has suffered painful boils and abscesses for six months. She was not given any pain medication after the first week of January. As recently as July 7, scabs on the abscesses remain. Pieces of her ears have fallen off, and up to 10” of her tail will have to be amputated. USDA issued a direct violation citation to the Zoo for their negligence and failure to protect Ruth from the elements resulting in near fatal harm to Ruth. It was not the first time the zoo has been cited by the USDA. As recently as 2011, the zoo was cited for filthy water in several exhibits, including the elephant exhibit. Algae and elephant dung filled the water feature leaving both elephants without any way to cool off in 90° weather. For nearly 30 years, Ruth has been kept in a small 12,000 exhibit with an elephant that has attacked her 29 times in the past eight years—on one occasion biting off six inches of Ruth’s tail. Ruth, elderly and with a paralyzed trunk, cannot defend herself or run away. The zoo has referred to this as a “social preference cemented over a lifetime.” Now Ruth’s condition is worsening. Ruth has been videotaped on several occasions limping and standing in place for hours. Her gait is agonizing to watch. It appears that her right leg was injured, perhaps by her exhibitmate, a keeper or a fall. She does not bend it at the knee, nor does she bend the ankle. Yet a review of her clinical records shows that neither the vet nor her keepers recognize she is lame or in pain, so she is not being treated for the underlying condition or the accompanying pain. I encourage USDA to clamp down on the failure of the zoo and its employees to provide necessary medical care for Ruth leading to her suffering. Please authorize the release of Ruth to The Elephant Sanctuary now.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 13:26:17 +0000