At the Commerford Zoo—cited by the USDA more than 50 times for violating minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act—Beulah, Karen, and Minnie are forced to perform at circuses and fairs where they are required to give rides despite Beulah’s painful foot disorder and Minnie’s aggression from years of psychological abuse that has resulted in her attacking handers and the public. Clearly, the Commerford Zoo values profits over the elephants’ well-being or human safety.
These highly intelligent, autonomous, self-aware beings deserve the opportunity to live the life that was stolen from them so long ago. Beulah, Karen, and Minnie should be immediately transferred to the Performing Animal Welfare Society’s ARK 2000 sanctuary where they will be able to live freely for the first time in years.
Sign and share our petition urging the Commerford Zoo to release Beulah, Karen, and Minnie to PAWS.
Send a short, polite email to the Commerford Zoo at commerfordzoo@yahoo.com, urging them to release Beulah, Karen, and Minnie to PAWS.
Email volunteer@nonhumanrights.org to join or organize a rally when the Commerford Zoo comes to your area.
All three elephants have been forced to perform for decades. Learn more about and share Beulah, Karen, and Minnie’s life stories.
On Feb. 2nd in Worcester, Massachusetts, close to 100 people joined the NhRP and Change.org to rally for freedom for Beulah, Karen, and Minnie outside a Commerford Zoo “kids fun fair.” Watch and share the video.
In September of 2019, after a troubling photo of Minnie giving rides at the fair went viral, NhRP President Steven M. Wise talked to local media about the elephants’ suffering. Watch and share the video.
“At the time, I didn’t know the name of the elephant or know how I could get involved to make a change. I only knew that I needed to finally act on the pit in my gut to try to do something about it.” Read and share a guest blog post written by a New Jersey resident who became an advocate for Beulah, Karen, and Minnie after seeing them forced to perform at a local fair.
Since 2017, Gigi Glendinning—a captive animal photographer and collage artist whose work is dedicated to ending the use of nonhuman animals in entertainment—has supported our fight for freedom and sanctuary for Beulah, Karen, and Minnie by sharing her photos of the elephants with the NhRP and allowing us to share them with our supporters and the media. Read and share our interview with Gigi.
“The key is ending injustice, period.” Read and share our interview with a humane educator and mother who witnessed Minnie’s exploitation at the Big E, a Massachusetts fair attended by over a million people each year.
Elephant advocates in the Northeastern US and around the world expressed their support for Beulah, Karen, and Minnie’s right to be free when we first filed suit on their behalf. Read and share their blog posts:
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“- Laurence AnthonyPerhaps the most important lesson I learned is that there are no walls between humans and the elephants except those that we put up ourselves, and that until we allow not only elephants, but all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves.
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