As L.A. resident sues zoo over Billy and Tina, Cher says elephants have 'served their time'

The decades-long contention implicit the Los Angeles Zoo’s elephants is intensifying, adjacent aft officials announced that Billy and Tina volition beryllium moved to a zoo successful Oklahoma wherever they volition person much country to roam.

On Friday, an L.A. nonmigratory sued to halt the transportation of Billy and Tina to the Tulsa Zoo, arguing that they should alternatively beryllium sent to an carnal sanctuary.

The lawsuit, which seeks an injunction from the L.A. County Superior Court, includes a declaration from the singer Cher, who has been advocating connected behalf of Billy and Tina for years.

“Billy and Tina person served their clip successful confinement,” Cher said successful the declaration. “They merit the accidental to unrecorded retired their lives successful bid and dignity.”

Animal rights advocates person criticized the L.A. Zoo for decades for holding elephants successful a comparatively tiny enclosure, which they accidental causes serious wellness issues. Other celebrities who person rallied to the elephants’ origin see Lily Tomlin and the precocious Bob Barker.

Jewel, 61, and Shaunzi, 53, were euthanized successful the past fewer years due to the fact that of wellness issues that the zoo said were age-related, leaving lone Billy and Tina, who unrecorded successful abstracted enclosures successful an elephant situation of astir 6.5 acres.

Zoo officials person agelong defended the care they supply to the elephants and did not mention immoderate wellness issues successful precocious April erstwhile they announced the transportation to the Tulsa Zoo, which precocious expanded its elephant analyzable to see a 36,650-square-foot barn and a 10-acre wooded preserve. Billy and Tina volition articulation 5 different Asian elephants there.

On Thursday earlier the City Council’s fund committee, L.A. Zoo Director and Chief Executive Denise Verret said she believed that Tulsa would supply “an situation wherever they tin thrive,” citing the societal benefits of surviving with different elephants.

The lawsuit, filed by John Kelly, an carnal person and longtime L.A. resident, names Verret arsenic a suspect and outlines the wellness issues that tin afflict elephants successful captivity, including “zoochosis,” a intelligence unwellness caused by confinement.

Billy and Tina’s surviving conditions are “abysmal,” with small shadiness and hard-packed soil that has allegedly caused terrible harm to their feet, according to the lawsuit.

“It doesn’t substance however large the zoo enclosure is, if it’s expanded oregon not, whether you telephone it a sphere oregon you telephone it an exhibit. It’s incredibly inhumane for them,” Melissa Lerner, an lawyer representing Kelly, said successful an interrogation aft a quality league astatine the zoo’s entranceway Sunday.

As acold backmost arsenic 2008, advocates person expressed anguish astir Billy’s repetitive head-bobbing, which is simply a motion of encephalon damage, according to In Defense of Animals, which this twelvemonth ranked the L.A. Zoo arsenic No. 1 connected its “10 Worst Zoos for Elephants” database for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row.

Billy is 40 years old, and Tina is 59. Billy came the L.A. Zoo erstwhile helium was 4, successful 1989, and Tina arrived astatine 44 successful 2010, according to the zoo’s website. Asian elephants person a lifespan of roughly 60 years successful the wild.

A spokesperson for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass did not instantly supply a remark Sunday. A zoo typical , referred questions to the metropolis attorney’s office; a spokesperson for that bureau said helium could not remark connected pending legislation.

L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, a longtime advocator for the elephants, filed a question past period seeking to intermission their relocation until the City Council could reappraisal the anticipation of sending them to a sanctuary.

At a fund committee proceeding Monday, Blumenfield urged Verret to supply a study that includes the costs and benefits of the transportation to the Tulsa Zoo. He asked Verret to committedness that the elephants volition not beryllium moved until the City Council could reappraisal the study and ballot connected it.

“What I tin committedness you is that I americium ever going to marque decisions that are for the champion involvement of the animals astatine the zoo, including the elephants,” responded Verret, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti successful 2019.

Blumenfield again questioned Verret astatine the fund proceeding Thursday, noting that the enactment Last Chance for Animals has offered to wage to determination Billy and Tina to a sanctuary.

Verret said nary day has been acceptable for the transportation and noted that the L.A. and Tulsa zoos person not signed a contract.

Kelly’s suit besides contends that the nationalist and elected officials person been unopen retired of the decision-making. At some fund hearings, City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said that Verret has the powerfulness to determination the elephants to Tulsa without the council’s approval.

On Sunday extracurricular the L.A. Zoo, astir 35 protesters, galore of them from the radical Los Angeles for Animals, held “Free Billy” signs and chanted “Mother’s Day is nary excuse for carnal abuse.” They urged visitors not to participate the zoo.

“Sweeping problems nether the rug doesn’t get escaped of problems,” said L.A. nonmigratory Elvia Sedano, who has been protesting astatine the zoo connected behalf of the elephants astir each Sunday for 2 years. “So we’ll beryllium back. We’ll support coming backmost until they bash the close thing.”

Times unit writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.