Tina And Jewel Safe
New Hope For Queenie?
When we at IDA first heard the news that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was finally confiscating Tina and Jewel from circus handler Will Davenport but sending them to a zoo, our hearts sank. We had not worked so hard for these elephants over the past two years just to see them end up in a zoo.
 Since we received a tip from a circus insider about Tina and Jewel’s location in the summer of 2007, IDA has been working hard to get these two and Queenie to a sanctuary. In July of that year, we sent an investigator to document the elephants’ physical and living conditions at the Davenport property in Leggett, Texas. We pulled together evidence of the Davenports’ purchase of Tina and Jewel in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It was IDA’s complaint to the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that prompted the FWS investigation and action.
For the next two years, we tracked the three elephants as they were trucked around the country and forced to perform by their abusive and negligent handler Will Davenport. Thanks to our caring members nationwide, we leafleted circuses performances and documented the elephants’ conditions with photographs and video. IDA also notified authorities and media nationwide of this circus act’s terrible history of abuse, filed multiple complaints with the USDA about the elephants’ care, and mobilized our members to generate tens of thousands of emails and telephone calls to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress, urging them to rescue these elephants.
Finally, we got both federal agencies - the USDA and the FWS - to act, no small feat given the USDA’s chronic failure to protect elephants by failing to adequately enforce the Animal Welfare Act.
After all our work in this case, and after watching these elephants suffer for over two years, we wanted their story to have a simple ending. We wanted all three elephants to live happily ever after at a sanctuary.
 But in life, things are rarely simple. Tina and Jewel were confiscated in a combined action of the USDA and the FWS, but they were sent to the San Diego Zoo. Queenie was left, at least temporarily, behind.
The choice of Tina and Jewel’s destination post-confiscation was solely the USDA’s; for years, IDA and our caring members had urged the agency to send all three elephants to a sanctuary. Although we have had many differences with the San Diego Zoo, we do understand that Jewel is gravely ill and in need of intensive veterinary care that the zoo can provide. Looking through Tina and Jewel’s eyes, we also understand that life has changed dramatically for the better. These elephants will no longer be trucked around the country for weeks on end or kept tightly chained to a tree, wondering when the next meal will come. They will never have to perform ridiculous tricks or give rides, and never have to fear the bullhook again.
IDA also thanks the San Diego Zoo for its willingness to take in these elephants and commit the resources necessary to bring them back to health.
IDA will continue to monitor this situation closely to stay updated on these elephants’ medical progress and what the future holds for them. Until then, we are grateful that Tina and Jewel have finally been taken from their abusive and negligent handler, are safely housed together at a protected contact facility that eschews bullhooks and physical punishment, and are receiving critically-needed medical care.
The fight goes on for Queenie
We are encouraged by recent news from the USDA indicating that there is still hope for this elephant, who has suffered at the Davenport family’s hands for decades.
Earlier this week, we asked our members to continue to write to the USDA on behalf of Queenie, who was left behind when Tina and Jewel were confiscated. On that day, August 20, Will Davenport voluntarily surrendered his USDA exhibitor’s license. According to the USDA, this means he cannot legally sell, trade or exhibit Queenie, nor can he transport her anywhere.
Unfortunately this also means that, for now, the USDA has no jurisdiction over Queenie’s care. But the agency has confirmed that it continues to investigate Davenport’s activities prior to August 20. Thanks to his refusal to cooperate with the USDA’s first confiscation attempt on August 15, these activities include not only abusive and negligent handling and care of Queenie, but also defying a federal order and interfering with the USDA’s official enforcement activities, subjecting him to the possibility of both civil and criminal penalties.
We are exploring all legal options to secure Queenie’s future at a sanctuary. Meanwhile, we urge our members to keep the pressure on for this elephant. If you have not yet done so, please write to the USDA today to urge them to prosecute Davenport to the fullest extent of the law and to send Queenie to a sanctuary. Please also ask them to ensure that Will Davenport is permanently barred from holding a USDA license.
Ann Wright
Deputy Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Phone: 202-720-4256 OR 202-720-7813
Fax: 202-720-5775
Email: ann.wright@osec.usda.gov
And if you have not yet contacted your Senators and Congressional representative, please do so now. If they have been responsive, be sure to thank them for their help and role in Tina and Jewel’s removal from the negligence and abuse of Will Davenport. Urge them to continue to pressure the USDA to prosecute Davenport for his legal violations and send Queenie to a sanctuary without delay.
Find your federal representatives here:
http://ida.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=electedOfficials
Click here to see the on-line version of this story.
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