Animal rights group rallies for Lucy the elephant.

20th June 2009, A local animal rights group rallied at the Valley Zoo this morning to raise awareness about the well-being of Lucy the elephant and to mark the First International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos.

The Edmonton-based Voice For Animals group claims that the 32-year-old elephant and Valley Zoo favourite is suffering from various health issues, including arthritis, dental and respiratory problems, and should be moved to a sanctuary to roam free with other elephants.

“Lucy looks unhappy,” said group spokesman Tove Reece. “This is our on-going campaign to put pressure on the zoo and on the city to have Lucy moved.”

Reece said two elephant sanctuaries in the U.S. have offered a place for Lucy and to send their veterinarians to examine her. Reece has been in touch with zoo officials over the years but they refuse to move Lucy because she is a “cause celebre” for the zoo’s fundraising efforts, she added.

About 10 ralliers and the group’s elephant mascot stood at the entrance of the zoo waving signs that read “Set Lucy Free” as participants for the Memory Walk strolled past. Some walk participants waved while vehicles passing by honked in support. But others rebuked the group for demonstrating during the event, which raises money for Alzheimer’s disease.

“This is not the time and place to be doing this,” one woman said angrily when a demonstrator offered her a pamphlet.

Other organizations as well as a few celebrities have fought hard to rescue Lucy over the year. In May, a group of Canadian authors, including well-known names like Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, sent a letter to city council urging them to move the elephant.

And in February, former Price is Right game show host Bob Barker reached out to council to pressure them into sending Lucy to a sanctuary.

But zoo officials and city councillors have maintained that Lucy is doing well and is well taken care of where she is. In fact, she would die in transit if she were moved because of her “malpositioned” molar, Valley Zoo operations supervisor Dean Treichel had said in February.

Across the world, activists staged similar protests. A small group of people stood outside the Toronto Zoo waving signs reading “elephants suffer in zoos” just a week after Tessa, a 40-year-old elephant, died after being shoved by a dominant member of her group who wanted to steal her food.