After countless years of hearing from animal advocates, the Los Angeles Zoo is finally relinquishing their elephants. Yet sadly, they have made the despicable choice to send Tina and Billy to another zoo facility.

This decision flies in the face of common sense and elephant welfare. Numerous other zoos have recently made the humane choice to end elephant exhibition and send their remaining elephants to an accredited sanctuary. So why is the LA Zoo different?

That answer may rest in the LA Zoo's executive director, who is not only CEO of LA Zoo, but also a multi-year board member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Denise Verret has no education in zoology or elephant welfare, but comes from the world of business. She was brought into the zoo from the perspective of facts, figures, and balance sheets - not from one of animal care. For the last 25 years, she has made a nice living off of animal confinement. As of 2022, she was on a salary and benefit package totaling $378,976 a year. So it is perhaps unsurprising that she chooses animal captivity over other, preferable choices.

Verret must continue to hear from those who put animals first. Let her know that Tina and Billy belong in a sanctuary, where they can live out their days in as natural an enviroment as possible for a confined elephant.