On Feb. 2nd in Worcester, Massachusetts, close to 100 people joined the Nonhuman Rights Project to rally for freedom for our clients Beulah, Karen, and Minnie, three elephants imprisoned and exploited as part of a traveling circus called the Commerford Zoo. In partnership with Change.org, we joined forces outside the DCU Center (where the Commerford Zoo was holding a “kids fun fair”) to be a collective voice and presence for the Commerford elephants before heading into the venue to hand-deliver our Change.org petition urging them to release Beulah, Karen, and Minnie to the Performing Animal Welfare Society’s globally respected elephant sanctuary. Over 300,000 people have signed the petition since we launched it in November of 2018. Check out Change.org’s video of the rally here:
As the NhRP argues in its ongoing Connecticut litigation on behalf of Beulah, Karen, and Minnie with support from world-renowned elephant experts, elephants are autonomous beings who suffer deeply when deprived of their liberty and forced to perform. Whether through litigation or mounting public pressure, the Commerford Zoo must do the right thing for these elephants and send them to an elephant sanctuary to live out their lives freely and with dignity and peace.