NhRP: It is abhorrent that the Commerford Zoo denied Beulah and Karen the opportunity to find peace and dignity in a sanctuary, choosing instead to exploit them and force them to work under threat of physical violence until the very end of their deeply impoverished lives.
SABRINA REILLEY: ‘A second elephant belonging to the R.W. Commerford Zoo, named Karen, died earlier this year… The news comes shortly after Beulah the elephant passed away earlier this week. It’s a story many of you have connected with and a story that Western Mass News has been working to get answers on. Tonight, we not only spoke with the Big E, but also with an activist organization that explained why they are persuing litigation against the animal’s owners, the Commerford family… The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a 2017 lawsuit looking to get the three elephants owned by the Commerford Zoo declared autonomous beings and moved to a sanctuary…
Lauren Chopin, NhRP’s Communications Director, released the following statement: We have just received confirmation via APHIS and Western Mass News that our elephant client Karen has indeed died, as we suspected. It is abhorrent that the Commerford Zoo denied Beulah and Karen the opportunity to find peace and dignity in a sanctuary, choosing instead to exploit them and force them to work under threat of physical violence until the very end of their deeply impoverished lives. We are disgusted by officials’ failure to protect Beulah and Karen from known violators of animal welfare standards, which only underscores elephants’ urgent need for fundamental legal rights. We will work diligently to obtain our surviving client Minnie’s freedom and ensure that she does not die alone in the Commerfords’ care. NhRP President Steven M. Wise will appear on Western Mass News tonight…
Speaking to Western Mass News via Skype, President of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) Steven Wise, President of the Nonhuman Rights Projects, says they already have the wheels in motion for a new lawsuit. “We are going to be telling them that two, four, three clients are dead and then we’ll be seeking some sort of an injunction against them,” explained Wise… “These animals are slaves and the Commerfords treat them as slaves, and what happens when you have a slave is you can work them to death,” said Steven Wise’. SOURCE…
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