High Rate of Human Fatalities and Injuries and the Abuse of Elephants CitedFor Immediate Release:
For Immediate Release:
March 24, 2011
Contact:
Ashley Gonzalez 202-483-7382
Washington — Citing the federal government's own admission that elephant-handling is one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. and listing a litany of human deaths and injuries, PETA has filed a formal petition with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) asking the agency to prohibit all direct physical contact between employees and elephants—known as "free contact"—at circuses, exhibits, and any other businesses that use elephants. The petition urges OSHA to require impassable barriers between employees and elephants—a system called "protected contact," which is already in use in most U.S. zoos, and comes in the wake of today's announcement by the Knoxville Zoo that it intends to switch to protected contact permanently as the result of the death of a handler in January.
"When held captive and denied everything that's natural and important to them, elephants become ticking time bombs," says PETA counsel and Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "The many deaths that have occurred as a result of free contact could have been prevented under protected contact, and OSHA's mandate is to step in when workers' lives are being placed at risk."
The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires that each employer "furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees." Just last year, OSHA acknowledged that "[d]irect or free contact with dangerous animals … is a recognized hazard that is likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees and others." Over the last 20 years, human interactions with captive elephants in the U.S. have resulted in 15 human deaths and more than 135 reported injuries. The most recent fatality involved elephant handler Stephanie James, who died on January 14 after she was crushed against metal bars by Edie, an elephant handled via free contact at the Knoxville Zoo. No deaths and only one injury (which was the result of one individual's failure to follow protocol) have occurred at zoos that use protected contact.
Free contact is based on negative reinforcement, physical punishment, and domination. Elephant handlers use bullhooks—sharp, metal-tipped weapons that resemble a fireplace poker—to intimidate and punish elephants who rebel against their captivity or fail to perform a trick on command. When employees who come into direct physical contact with these animals are inevitably injured or killed, the animals are often beaten, socially isolated, and killed themselves.
PETA's petition to OSHA is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.