After almost a lifetime in captivity, fourteen years of which she has been forced to live alone, 49-year-old Happy deserves to be freed from her imprisonment at the Bronx Zoo and sent to an elephant sanctuary.
Science and human experience make clear that elephants are autonomous animals. They are cognitively, emotionally, and socially complex beings who have the capacity to exercise free will and make choices about how to spend their days and live their lives, just as human beings do. Forcing an elephant like Happy to live alone in a small unnatural environment, where she is prevented from exercising free will and engaging in her innate behaviors, causes physical and emotional suffering.
It’s time for the Bronx Zoo to send Happy to an elephant sanctuary where she can live freely with other elephants in an environment that is similar to her natural habitat.
Take action and help Happy by tweeting for her freedom this Tuesday, July 14th at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
The goal of this Twitter day of action for Happy is to raise awareness about Happy’s plight and increase public pressure on the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society—which owns the zoo—to send Happy to either The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee or the Performing Animal Welfare Society. The more people tweeting to #FreeHappy at the same time, the greater the chance that the tweets for Happy’s freedom will be amplified and garner widespread attention.
TARGETS:
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): @theWCS
Bronx Zoo: @BronxZoo
Cristián Samper (President and CEO of WCS): @CristianSamper
Jim Breheny (Executive Director of the Bronx Zoo): @JimBreheny
WHEN:
Tuesday, July 14th from 10 a.m. PT – 12 p.m. PT (1 p.m. ET – 3 p.m. ET)
Please do not begin early, but you can and should continue to tweet any time after 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
MESSAGING:
Below are some sample tweets you for you to post on Twitter. You can also come up with your own. The only thing that you absolutely must include in your tweets is the hashtag #FreeHappy to help get the message widely seen. Feel free to include any of these graphics in your tweets (they are also embedded at the bottom of this post).
Please also like and retweet posts that use the hashtag #FreeHappy to amplify the campaign.
We encourage you to direct people to Happy’s litigation and campaign pages if they comment with questions you do not know the answer to. You can also urge people to take action for Happy and sign her Change.org petition or complete our most recent action alert. Also, please refer to this Happy FAQ sheet or blog post for answers to commonly asked questions regarding her housing at the Bronx Zoo and why she should be freed to a sanctuary.
Sample Tweets
Happy has the chance at a life with other elephants, access to acres of land to roam, and the right to exercise free will. @JimBreheny, why deprive her of a life of peace and dignity? #FreeHappy
Both US elephant sanctuaries have agreed to provide Happy with lifelong care and refuge at no cost to the @BronxZoo. @JimBreheny @CristianSamper, what’s stopping you from giving Happy back her freedom? #FreeHappy
Happy’s 1-acre yard at the @BronxZoo, which she only has occasional access to, is less than one percent of the size of an Asian elephant’s home range. It’s time for @theWCS and the @BronxZoo to #FreeHappy to an elephant sanctuary where she will have plenty of space to roam.
.@BronxZoo & @theWCS, stop ignoring Happy’s needs and finally send her to a sanctuary. It’s wrong to hold an elephant alone on a small 1-acre lot. Please #FreeHappy to @ElephantsTN or @PAWSARK2000 where she will have plenty of space to roam w/elephant companions.
In February a judge rejected the @BronxZoo’s claim that its imprisonment of Happy is good for her, writing: “the arguments advanced by the NhRP are extremely persuasive for transferring Happy from her solitary, lonely one-acre exhibit at the Bronx Zoo” to @ElephantsTN. #FreeHappy
Why is @theWCS forcing Happy to live in isolation at the @BronxZoo? There is nothing preventing them from freeing Happy to a sanctuary where she can live with other elephants and have plenty of space to roam. #FreeHappy
The @BronxZoo is a literal prison for Happy. She is forced to live in isolation with only an acre of outdoor space. At @ElephantsTN or @PAWSARK2000, Happy would be able to live freely with other elephants in an environment similar to her natural habitat. #FreeHappy
Elephants do not belong in isolation or in tiny enclosures subject to constant human onlookers and city noise. @BronxZoo, please #FreeHappy to a sanctuary where she can live with other elephants in an appropriate climate with year-round access to the outdoors.
Just like human beings, elephants need freedom and a community of other members of their species in order to thrive. @theWCS @BronxZoo give Happy what she needs! #FreeHappy
Happy has spent 14 years in solitary confinement & in a climate and living conditions that are unnatural to her species. @BronxZoo and @theWCS, please #FreeHappy now from a lifetime of isolation, loneliness, and stress.
QUESTIONS:
If you have any questions, please contact Courtney Fern at cfern@nonhumanrights.org.
Thank you for Tweeting for Happy!
