dictation's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hawthorne update Very peculiar day. Consumed 425 calories worth of rice cakes in the afternoon (I knew I was doomed when I lost count past the "serving size") which left me with few calories left for dinner so dinner turned out to be 2 slices of lightly peanutbuttered bread. I'm still within my daily range of calories and I'm not hungry, so go me. [It pays to count the calories and avoid feelings of defeat that predictably lead to "oh what the hell, I blew the rice cakes... might as well pig out now!"] In the end I realized I blew nothing. I ate a light dinner. It worked out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wonderful news on the pachyderm front. Amazingly, miraculously, inexplicably, John Cuneo of the Hawthorne Corporation, owner, exploiter and abuser of elephants for more than 50 years, admitted guilt, agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and give up all of the elephants he owns. I suppose he pretty much figured he would have been convicted on all 47 counts of abuse and neglect and this way he avoids extremely bad publicity. Unfortunately he has a license to keep tigers and other wildlife he farms out to circuses and the entertainment business. This doesn't shut down his business, but it's doubtful he'll ever be able to own elephants again now. Perhaps Lota, the TB-ridden, horribly treated elephant will now have a chance to live out her remaining days at the Elephant Sanctuary. The USDA has to decide where all the elephants will go, but it looks like the Sanctuary is going to try to take them if it can. In November, the Sanctuary was given Delhi, another victim of Hawthorne, and she's doing splendidly. In another two months she'll be out of quarantine and able to roam the Sanctuary lands freely with the other elephants. Lota is an old girl now and although she's bone-tired and very ill, if she can spend her last days in a heavenly place, it will be a dream come true. We certainly don't want Lota (or any of the Hawthorne elephants) ending up like Kali or Calle. Calle was supposed to move to the Sanctuary and then the zoo changed its mind. Pity. She'd be alive today. By the way, there's an interesting video on the link for Calle (above - scroll a little) that shows her friend Tinkerbelle being insistent that Calle lie down and rest. It's not obvious to the audience though who assumed they were fighting. Calle would never have reclined on her own with that crowd of onlookers. Elephants will only lie down if they are extremely secure and safe, lying makes them extremely vulnerable to predators. But listen to the noise of the audience on the tape. That's what animals have to endure every day...the squealing noise of well-meaning people who don't know enough about the animals to respect their needs. Elephants hate all that noise and in zoos they have nowhere to escape it. That's why you never see an elephant sleeping on its side in a zoo. Elephants are forced to stand and sleep standing for decades in these environments. In the wild, elephants will lie down several times over a 24-hour period, although they will also sleep standing in the wild. But all animals need to lie down, elephants are no exception. But they need their herd for protection and they need peace and quiet and a feeling of security. Gah, it makes me cringe to think of zoos...I can't stand them anymore. So in the video, that's a very sick Calle, and her friend Tinkerbelle is probably grieving there... Now Tinkerbelle is alone and the Sanctuary is hoping the zoo will release her. I hope so too. Tinkerbelle deserves to be at the Sanctuary where she can live a natural life. You know what galls me is the zoo is claiming the animal activists attending the event made Tinkerbelle aggressive. They're insinuating that Calle's death was caused by the freaking audience. Zoos and circus environments caused all of Calle's problems and it's disgusting to hear these bastards blame a person in the audience the day before the zoo planned to euthanize her for long-term illnesses. This is what defines evil in my book. But I'm sure all those zoo officials are "nice people." Ugh. That said, the Hawthorne news is positive. It seems the pace of change is accelerating. It's great! The Elephant Sanctuary is becoming extremely well known around the world and this is a good thing for all captive elephants. 8:51 p.m. - 2004-03-16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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