- Don Lichterman
Rescues in progress & Rescue Completed Last year!
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Elephants do not deserve the lives they’re forced to live in captivity! Imprisoned behind metal bars, they do not thrive. Deprived of their natural habitats, and denied the deep social bonds that you and I know that elephants form, their lives are tragic and empty of positive experiences.
You know. I know it. And zoos know it too, though they won’t admit it!
Will you help us to continue our work to expose the “Big Lie” that elephants can survive and thrive in captivity? The lie that almost all zoos want you to believe?
Will you help us put an end to their suffering in zoos across the country?
Elephants like Mali sway in distress at Rosamond Gifford Zoo. She should be free. Instead, elephants are artificially inseminated and forced into pregnancies, paraded around for profit, made to endure unnatural living conditions and suffer untimely deaths. Terrible!
With your help we can expose the lie, expose zoo cruelty and liberate abused elephants from captivity. Our goal is to give elephants conditions that allow them to thrive — in large, spacious preserves that offer hundreds to thousands of acres of natural habitat and allow them to live fulfilling lives, as close as possible to what nature intended.
In January 2019 I let you know that poor suffering Asian elephant Mali at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo had given birth to a male calf, named Ajay. He was born after a forced pregnancy brought about by a series of invasive artificial insemination attempts. The Zoo hailed his birth as a triumph, placing him on exhibit five short months later.
On December 9, Rosamond Gifford Zoo announced that baby Ajay has died. It was just days before his second birthday. But worse was yet to come...
On December 11, the Zoo announced that Ajay’s five-year-old brother, Batu, had also died. Both succumbed to the Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV).
The rate of baby elephant deaths at this zoo — and, in fact, at all zoos — is unacceptable! If you agree, please help out in any way.
Rosamond Gifford Zoo forces baby elephants into existence simply because they’re a huge attendance draw. Their miserable lives in captivity don’t matter when there’s money to be made. High death rates can’t get in the way of zoo profits, so female elephants are chained and inseminated invasively against their will. Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s despicable treatment of these baby elephants — and their bereft parents Mali and Doc — landed the facility in #10th place on our list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants in North America.
The fact is, all zoos are notoriously bad at keeping baby elephants alive. But they continue to breed them anyway. Zoos routinely use disturbing artificial insemination techniques on both male and female elephants in repeated attempts to produce babies.
“Captive breeding programs” are nothing more than a greedy ploy to drive ticket sales!
But there’s even more to be sick about...
Baby elephants form strong maternal bonds. Their complex and rich social lives with their family groups start the moment they are born. But zoos break up their social groups and transfer them far away. Many elephants suffer entirely alone, without even a single member of their own species!
Isolated zoo conditions are no way for any elephant to live. We must shut down all failing zoo exhibits! I agree! Don’t let baby elephants suffer any longer!
Bereft parents, Mali and Doc, should be sent to an accredited sanctuary where they will never be bred again. All zoo prisoners should be liberated so they can live lives of relative peace and comfort — where they never have to go on public display. It’s the kind of lives that elephants deserve. Give hope to imprisoned elephants.
Emma's feet are excruciatingly painful.
Emma’s feet are so injured and in need of medical attention, she lies down every chance she gets just to avoid the pain. When forced to get up and work by her cruel owner, she rocks from side to side, lifting alternate feet like she’s standing on searing hot coals.
We know it has only been a couple of weeks since you helped us bring Jai to safety, but Emma needs us. We were working on getting Jai settled into his new home when we got an emergency call about her. The question was, can we help her too? When we heard about her situation and saw photos of her legs and feet, we knew we needed to help her immediately.
Our goal is to have her on her way to the hospital campus in less than a week. We know it is possible because we managed to do it with Jai, but we need your help. Will you please help Emma now?
Right now, innocent elephants are suffering extreme cruelty.
They face gruesome death and mutilation just for their ivory tusks. And helpless baby elephants are brutally kidnapped and held captive in chains for human amusement.
This must stop. We are working to create a world where no elephant is gunned down just to be carved into a sickening trophy. But we need your support. Will you help today to help us keep fighting for elephants and all animals in 2021?
Last year, Lady Freethinker's undercover investigation exposed the heartbreaking abuse at Mason Elephant Park, where chained, isolated elephants were forced to haul tourists around for profit.
We also amassed hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to fight poaching, trophy hunting, and cruel zoos.
And our news and campaign articles gained massive exposure, opening people's eyes to elephants' plight around the world. Will you help us keep working to save elephants from cruelty in the coming year? Elephants are counting on us.
End Elephant Exploitation!
The plight of elephants as individuals and as representatives of their species has never been as dire as it is today, with elephants under siege by humans and threatened by extinction. Illegal ivory poaching, trophy hunting, habitat fragmentation and destruction and their capture for public display are greatly reducing what remains of elephant populations.
We have a proven commitment to ending elephant captivity and cruelty.
We couldn't carry out our life-saving work without your generous gifts. Please, consider making a donation to In Defense of Animals, and help us continue to fight against elephant exploitation. Your gift, no matter how big or small, will make a difference.
End Elephant Exploitation!
In Defense of Animals is influencing zoos and circuses to retire captive elephants to accredited sanctuaries, and we're working to keep elephants in the wild.
Elephant in the Room
"Corporations Are People, My Friends."
Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
ANIMAL RESCUES WELFARE, CRIMES & ABUSE
PROTECT OUR WILDLIFE
Whales & A Whale of a Week!
