PETA Asks USDA to Seize Ailing Elephant From Owner Charged With for Animal Welfare Act Violations
For Immediate Release:
February 20, 2013
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Davenport, Fla. -- PETA has filed a detailed complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supporting its request for the agency to confiscate Nosey, an African elephant who is suffering from a severe, chronic skin condition. Nosey's exhibitor, Hugo Liebel, is already facing nearly three dozenformal charges for violations of the federal minimum standards of the Animal WelfareAct, most of them relating to Nosey, including repeatedly chaining her so tightly that she could barely move and repeatedly denying her adequate veterinary care.
Despite these charges—and two decades of federal citations for failing to treat Nosey's skin condition properly—Liebel is still not giving her the care that she needs. According to a veterinarian with more than 30 years of experience caring for and treating elephants, photographs of Nosey taken during elephant rides in Davenport earlier this month reveal that her condition continues to deteriorate and that she is in pain and suffering as a result.
"Liebel brazenly flouts the law and puts animals and the public at risk," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "The USDA must take decisive action to seize Nosey and get her the treatment that she so desperately needs."
Also last week, records obtained by PETA reveal that Nosey tested positive for tuberculosis antibodies last year—which can be an early indicator of TB infection. This result is of particular concern given Liebel's record of allowing unlawful, unsupervised, and dangerous contact between the public and Nosey—and given that direct contact with a TB-positive elephant is notnecessary for transmission of the disease.
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