PAWS is Home to 5 Asian and 3 African Elephants
The elephant habitat at ARK 2000 provides the elephants with hundreds of acres of varied natural terrain to roam, lakes to bathe in, and state-of-the-art elephant barns equipped with heated stalls and therapeutic Jacuzzis.
Learn More »

PAWS presents. . .

Summit for the Elephants, 2012 March 28-31*

Hosted at the Oakland Zoo

For additional information about Summit for the Elephants, 2012, including registration and hotel information, as well as current list of this year's speakers and panel members, CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE to register online using PayPal

or credit card.

*Saturday, March 31, includes an optional all day bus trip to PAWS' ARK 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas, CA. This special tour is open to Summit registrants and speakers only.

Above: African elephants Thika and Iringa

Bob Barker Will Fund

Toronto Zoo Elephants'

Move To ARK 2000

During a telephone call on the morning of December 17, 2011, Bob Barker informed PAWS Director, Pat Derby, that he will be providing all of the costs of transport for the relocation of the three Toronto Zoo African elephants, Toka, Thika and Iringa, to ARK 2000.

Both PAWS and ZooCheck Canada will continue their campaigns to raise funds for lifetime care for the elephants once they arrive at PAWS.

To donate to the care of Toka, Thika and Iringa, click here.

We have had numerous requests coming in from individuals wishing to send a personal thank you to Mr. Barker. You can write to him c/o Henri Bollinger Associates, P. O. Box 57227, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413.

Above: African elephants Iringa and Toka

Drury University Announces

"Animal Studies" Minor

In February 2008, former “Price Is Right” host, and Drury University alumnus, Bob Barker, presented Drury University with $1 million to establish the Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights.

Several law schools, including Harvard and Stanford, have received gifts from Mr. Barker to help fund the study of animal rights, but this was the first time he had funded an undergraduate program in animal rights.

The initial course at Drury titled “Animal Ethics” was designed to educate students about issues that directly affect the lives of animals. As a multidisciplinary class, the course was team-taught by professors with expertise from the fields of biology, law, sustainability, psychology, criminology, philosophy, religion and anthropology, and was offered for the first time in 2009.

Drury University has just announced that it will begin offering an "Animal Studies" minor. Designed for those who are interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the diverse ways in which the lives of animals and humans intersect, the interdisciplinary nature of the minor, which consists of six classes (18 hrs.), allows students to consider historical and contemporary interactions between humans and animals from a range of perspectives. Classes will be available in the 2012-2013 catalog. For class and faculty information, click here.

If you are interested in learning more about Drury's innovative new minor in Animal Studies, contact Dr. Patricia McEachern at 417-873-7875, or by email at pmceache@drury.edu.

Introducing Fat Kitty City, Northern California's Only Domestic Feline Sanctuary

For the past 13 years, PAWS has relied upon Fat Kitty City for all of our domestic animal problems. We have sent many sick and starving cats who have been dumped, or just shown up at our three sanctuaries, to this remarkable feline sanctuary where PAWS board member, Ed Minghelli, and his wife Cindy, founders of Fat Kitty City, and their remarkable team perform the magic of TLC, good veterinary care and superlative housing to transform snarling, defensive bundles of matted fur into loving, happy companions.

Please click here to read their story, and to meet the "Real Housecats of PAWS."

Charity Navigator once again

gives PAWS a 4-star rating.

For more information, click here.

December 21, 2011

Chicago Tribune

"Charities That Get Top Ratings"

Click here to read article.

PAWS Sanctuaries
At PAWS Sanctuaries rescued animals live in peaceful and natural habitats, free from fear, chains, and harsh confinement. They are at complete liberty to act out natural behaviors in the comfort of their individually designed enclosures. PAWS' animals are not bred, traded, sold, rented or forced to perform in any way. PAWS educates the entertainment industry, public officials and the general public in humane care and treatment of captive wildlife.

Through our public awareness campaigns, more and more actively concerned individuals are becoming aware of the problems inherent in the breeding of wildlife in captivity and the use of animals in entertainment. Learn More »

IN MEMORIAM

SABU: 11/1/82 - 1/11/12

Our sincere thanks to everyone who has offered us their condolences. Sabu's sad life accelerated his death. At least he found peace and love in his last year. — Pat Derby

Sabu Succumbed To Degenerative Joint Disease

An expert team of seven pathologists from University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, performed Sabu's necropsy. A most striking discovery was the degree of arthritis present.

Here is a quote from UCD pathologists:

"Severe degenerative joint disease was identified in multiple joints, compatible with the history of protracted clinical lameness and collapse. Gross changes included formation of periarticular osteophytes and marked marginal bony remodeling, eburnation and erosion of articular cartilage, hyperplasia of the synovial lining, and a marked degree of joint effusion, all indicative of the severity and chronicity of the lesion."

As is customary with all necropsies, further detailed examination of all tissues is pending.

Jackie Gai, DVM

PAWS PRESS RELEASE

January 12, 2012

PAWS Saddened by Loss of Gentle Giant Sabu, Our Oldest Asian Bull Elephant

Born November 1, 1982, at Portland Zoo, Sabu was transferred to a circus in 1984, and then retired to PAWS’ ARK 2000 Sanctuary in September 2010. Here Sabu joined Nicholas, PAWS' youngest bull elephant, also retired from a circus, and half brother to Sabu.

The two bulls were fathered by Tunga, an Asian bull at Portland Zoo. Tunga was transferred to a circus facility after Sabu was born, and later sired Nicholas at that facility. Both Nicholas and Sabu performed in circuses when they were two years old. Nicholas was retired to PAWS when he was 13 years old, the first bull elephant at the ARK 2000 Sanctuary. Sabu, PAWS' second bull, arrived when Nicholas was 17. The two boys were close enough to see and communicate.

"It almost appeared that they knew they were related," Pat Derby, one of PAWS founders, commented. "It was obvious that they were communicating, although humans never hear the low frequency sounds that elephants use to gather information."

Sabu was beloved by all who worked with him. He was described by Brian Busta, PAWS elephant supervisor, as a "big, beautiful boy who was gentle, very intelligent and a best friend."

Sabu succumbed to the effects of severe arthritis in multiple joints on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

Pat Derby and Ed Stewart, PAWS directors who live on the property, were immediately alerted by the night keeper who was with Sabu when his giant body collapsed in his large dirt sleeping stall at 3:30 Wednesday morning. PAWS veterinarian, Dr. Gai, and Brian Busta, arrived shortly after Pat and Ed and all agreed that efforts to lift him to a standing posture would be stressful and his condition indicated that he would be unable to remain standing.

A team of pathologists from the University of California Davis conducted the necropsy and preliminary results were reported as "severe arthritis in multiple joints."

Dr. Gai stated, "The degree of severity is what I would expect to see in a 50+ year old captive Asian. I think we were all surprised to see arthritis like this in someone so relatively young."

Tuy Hoa, Sabu's maternal grandmother at Portland Zoo, was reported to have died “very young from crippling arthritis."

Nancy Burnet, Director of Bob Barker's DJ&T Foundation which funded Sabu's barn, pool and habitat, wrote to Sabu's keepers, "The bigger tragedy would have been if he'd never made it to PAWS — you were Sabu's angels. Your constant love and kindness created a wonderful bond. . . How wonderful it worked out so that he spent his last year at PAWS, luxuriating in the relief his pond provided, and moving about freely."

To donate in Sabu's memory, CLICK HERE.

To view our video tribute to Sabu, CLICK HERE.

Giant Footsteps

By Brian Busta*

dark grey, towering tall.
a mountain walks, on a mountain
steady of pace,

persistent in your course.

every move determined,

every touch without recrimination.

from a life of anonymity,

to a life respected, admired.

with bamboo and trees to munch,

water to splash or float in.

turkeys to chase,

deer to face off to,

and boys to rumble with.

never having known your wild home,

i hope life on the mountain,

lived up to the dream.

silver on white on grey

a presence seen, felt,

and forever remembered.

giant footsteps left in the sand

and in my heart.

*Brian Busta is PAWS elephant supervisor.

HR 3359

Traveling Exotic Animal

Protection Act (TEAPA)

Ground-breaking initiative on animal circuses

unveiled Nov. 2, on Capitol Hill!

VIEW PRESS RELEASE   VIEW PHOTOS

Renowned celebrity animal protectionist, Bob Barker (philanthropist and TV host of "The Price Is Right"), Jorja Fox (CSI actress), and Congressman Jim Moran, with Animal Defenders International and the Performing Animal Welfare Society, were at Congress on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, for the launch of a ground-breaking initiative,

HR 3359, that could spell the end to the use of wild animals in circuses.

A press conference was held where details of the bill were addressed. Read the text of this legislation, here.

VIDEO/SLIDESHOW

DONATE TO CAMPAIGN!

What you can do! Click here.

The Show Must Not Go On!

It's time for animals to leave the circus.

Join our campaign, today!

"We should have realized by now that the animals in the circus are not ambassadors for their species, but rather sideshow victims in an industry that probably doesn't need them anyway. This is a common sense issue more than an animal rights issue." California Senator Dan McCorquodale made this statement more than 15 years ago.

"I hated circuses. . . I hated the way their keepers and trainers treated the elephants - the other animals too, but the elephants most of all. Elephants bring out a fury in many men as no other creature does; a rage to dominate and to hurt." Pat Derby made this statement in 1976 in her book, "The Lady & Her Tiger."

"Circuses have a limited ability to make improvements, such as increased space, environmental enrichment and appropriate social housing. . . We conclude that the species of non-domesticated animals currently kept in circuses appear the least suited to a circus life." This was a conclusion reached in a study conducted at the University of Bristol, School of Biological Sciences, UK, in 2009.

"The idea that it is funny to see wild animals coerced into acting like clumsy humans, or thrilling to see powerful beasts reduced to cringing cowards by a whip-cracking trainer is primitive and medieval." From Desmond Morris, former Director of London Zoo and noted animal behaviorist.

PAWS has been studying circuses for more than 25 years, tracking the smaller mud shows like King Royal Circus run by the Davenport family to the bigger, more lavish productions. We have documented the painful and inhumane conditions in which the animals are forced to travel and to live. Ed and I have appeared on numerous national television shows and documentaries with data regarding the constant suffering of animals who are forced to perform in circuses.

Below: Baby elephant, Nicholas, performs on the balance beam. Nicholas now lives at ARK 2000.

PAWS and Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) introduced a bill to ban elephants from traveling shows and elephant rides during the 1999 federal legislative session. The bill was defeated by the powerful circus lobby, and, surprisingly, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), although Dr. Parrott, Director of the Oakland Zoo, testified in support of the bill. Many other zoo directors also supported the federal legislation.

Since that time, many circuses have eliminated animal acts and every animal welfare organization in the country has campaigned against the use of live animals in the circus.

At ARK 2000, some of the animals we filmed in circuses 20 years ago have finally found a peaceful retirement. Sadly, some of the animals which we struggled to save did not find peace, and some are still living in horrendous conditions.

Isn't it time to stop the show?

Join our "The Show Must No Go On" campaign to ban the use of live animals in circuses. Demand federal legislation. Please call or fax a letter to your Congressional representative today.