MAGGIE AT THE ANCHORAGE ZOO
Meet
Maggie here and here.
A group called Free Maggie has been established with a goal to relocate
Maggie to The Elephant Sanctuary. For information, contact
grey.mare@charter.net.
Sign Maggie's Petition!
Article on Maggie in Anchorage Daily newspaper. Vote!
Read about Maggie at TES site
Tex
Edwards
Director Alaska Zoo
4731 O'Malley Road
Anchorage AK 99516
Alaska Zoo,
4731 O'Malley Road,
Anchorage AK 99516
Director Tex Edwards
President Brennan
Jim Dokoozian
Mike Barker
Bill Borchardt
Vince Curry
Dorothea Lovejoy
Mrs. Sammye Seawell
Steve Noey
Dick Thwaites
Joe Van Treeck
Alaska Zoo
4731 O'Malley Road
Anchorage AK 99516
907 346-2673 FAX
Ms. Sammye Seawell, Owner
Alaska Zoo
4731 O'Malley Rd.
Anchorage, AK 99516
Fax: 907-346-2673
Sample Letter:
Dear ,
This letter is to ask you to consider moving Maggie, the African elephant, to a
more hospitable climate for the remainder of her life. You know that the Alaskan
climate is not suitable for her species.
While you have given her the best that you can, she has the chance to thrive
with other female members of her species at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee,
instead of just existing at your zoo. She would have the companionship she
desperately needs. She has been mislabeled an angry and mean animal. Her true
nature as an African elephant is to be docile and loving. She witnessed the
killing of her mother and family in Africa, how can she not harbor resentment
towards humans? She is kept in a small yard, on hard dirt, which probably hurts
her feet. Your other elephant, Annabelle, died by keeping her in unsatisfactory
conditions. Most zoo elephants die by the age of 30 due to abscessed feet.
Having already lost an elephant to a foot abscess, how can you in good
consciousness, keep Maggie in the same conditions? You know she too, will die
young from feet problems.
Vancouver Zoo in Canada just sent their Asian elephant, Tina, to the sanctuary
on August 8, 2003. She too, has abscessed feet which would not recover being in
a small yard. Thanks to the zoo truly wanting the best for Tina, they
permanently retired her to the sanctuary. They predict her feet will heal in 6
months walking on natural substrate. The Evansville Zoo in Indiana, sent their
ailing elephant, Bunny, to the sanctuary with chronic sore feet problems. She
has since recovered. Why wait until Maggie gets sick to move her to better
place?
Please, if you really love Maggie or even if you don't, let her go to her
freedom at the Elephant Sanctuary. By fall, two zoo African elephants from
Georgia and one from a California circus will be the first African elephant
residents. Maggie could be the first if you release her now. These girls will
begin to form the herd on 1000 acres. Just think of it, Maggie roaming free and
protected for the rest of her life. I read that you are worried she will fight
with others for dominance. With so much land, she doesn't have to mingle if she
doesn't want to. That's the glory of the sanctuary, the girls choose to do want
they want. Fighting only occurs in cramped spaces at zoos and circuses and never
at the sanctuary.
Please visit their website at www.elephants.com to learn more.
Our group has offered to help raise the funds necessary to move Maggie and help pay for her retirement for the rest of her life. So, if financial issues are a setback for you regarding Maggie's retirement, you needn't worry about that. We will take care of everything, including her transportation to the Sanctuary.
Thank you for taking a moment to consider Maggie's health and well being. We hope you make an educated decision before her feet suffer the same fate as Annabelle's.
Sincerely,
Please write to the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Tell them you won't visit Alaska especially Anchorage.
Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau
524 W. 4th Ave
Anchorage AK 99501
Alaska
Tel. (907)276-4118
Please also write the following and complain about Maggie's living conditions and/or send a cc of your letter to the following:
Governor Frank Murkowski
Office of the Governor
Box 110001
Juneau
AK 99811
Ph. 907.465.3500
465.3532 fax
Send an email to Governor Murkowski:
http://gov.state.ak.us/budget_bills_2003.php
First Lady Nancy Murkowski
Office of the Governor
Box 110001
Juneau
AK 99811
Ph. 907.465.3500
465.3532 fax
Lt. Governor Loren Leman
550 W 7th Ave.
Suite 1700
Anchorage, AK 99501
Ph. 907.269.7460
269.0263 fax
State Capitol
Third Floor
Juneau, Alaska
Ph 907.465.3520
465.5400 fax
Mayor's Office
Mayor Mark Begich
632 West 6th Avenue
Suite 840
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
PO Box 196650
Anchorage, Alaska 99519-6650
Phone: (907) 343-4431
Fax: (907) 343-4499
E-mail: wwmayor@ci.anchorage.ak.us
The Anchorage Municipal Assembly names, phone, addresses:
http://www.muni.org/iceimages/Assembly2/ACF42C4.pdf
Email Addresses:
teschea@muni.org
annafair@alaska.net
kendall@alaska.net
sullivand@muni.org
fayvong@alaska.com
dtraini@gci.net
vanetten@Alaska.net
whittlebk@muni.org
taylorm@muni.org
tremained@muni.org
jcshamberg@gci.net
Fax for all members: 907-343-4313
Senator_Kim_Elton@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Hollis_French@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Lyda_Green@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Gretchen_Guess@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Lyman_Hoffman@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Georgianna_lincoln@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Scott_Ogan@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Donald_Olson@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Ralph_Seekins@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Gary_Stevens@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Robin_Taylor@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Thomas_Wagoner@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Gary_Wilken@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Gene_Therriault@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Ben_Stevens@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Fred_Dyson@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Johnny_Ellis@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Con_Bunde@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_John_Cowdery@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Bettye_Davis@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Fred_Dyson@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Pete_Kott@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_John_Coghill@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Ethan_Berkowitz@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Tom_Anderson@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Mike_Chenault@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Sharon_Cissna@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Harry_Crawford@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Eric_Croft@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Nancy_Dahlstrom@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Hugh_Fate@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Richard_Foster@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Les_Gara@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Carl_Gatto@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Max_Gruenberg@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_David_Guttenberg@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_John_Harris@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Mike_Hawker@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Cheryll_Heinze@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Jim_Holm@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Reggie_Joule@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Mary_Kapsner@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Beth_Kerttula@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Vic_Kohring@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Albert_Kookesh@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Bob_Lynn@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Beverly_Masek@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Lesil_McGuire@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Kevin_Meyer@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Carl_Morgan@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Carl_Moses@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Dan_Ogg@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Norman_Rokeberg@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Ralph_Samuels@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Paul_Seaton@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Bill_Stoltze@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Bruce_Weyhrauch@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Jim_Whitaker@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Bill_Williams@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Peggy_Wilson@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Kelly_Wolf@legis.state.ak.us
Newspaper (Anchorage Daily News)
Anchorage Daily News
P.O. Box 149001
Anchorage, AK 99514.
newsroom@adn.com.
Newspaper (Voice of the Times)
To contact the Voice of the Times editors:
Mail to:
The Anchorage Times
P.O. Box 100040
Anchorage, AK 99510
Fax (907) 264-8794
Email to: AnchTimes@corecom.net
TESTIMONY ON MAGGIE
"I make this plea now for another elephant who is the only female African
elephant in any zoo in the US to live alone. It is Maggie. I live 20
minutes from the Alaska zoo and visit her. She is a very lonely and
unhappy elephant. She's hurt keepers in the past because she is so bored
and miserable. You can read about Maggie here, and see her photo: http://www.captiveanimals.org/elephants/maggie.htm.
And here is the propaganda the zoo puts out on dear Maggie: http://www.alaskazoo.org/maggie.htm.
Several years ago, I spearheaded a drive to free Maggie. The letter
below was one I sent to the zoo directors. I never received a reply.
Here is a portion of the letter: "It is morally unacceptable to keep Maggie all alone at
the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. Maggie is the only African elephant housed
alone in a zoo in the United States. Companionship is critical to the
health and well-being of elephants. The most highly respected elephant
experts in the world concur that it is
extremely cruel to keep an elephant isolated from other elephants. Also,
the Alaskan climate is totally inappropriate to an animal who is
genetically equipped
to live in the tropics. It is absolutely inhumane to
confine Maggie to a cement-floored building.
Maggie needs to be transferred to a facility where she can experience
the love and friendship of other
elephants. In addition, Maggie needs to be in a more
appropriate climate where she can go outside on a daily basis, feel
grass under her feet, and soak in water. Obviously, none of this is
possible in Alaska
for much of the year."
Maggie is chained in a tiny, unheated barn in the winter and the winters
here are *long.* She has no enrichment 8 months of the year. Now that
the Sanctuary in Tenn. is going African, can anyone please help me free
Maggie from the prison she is in? I have looked into her sad eyes and
she is dying inside. Her fate in the winter is like Ziggy, the elephant
who was chained his entire life in Chicago in a tiny barn."
"I recently moved from Anchorage and now reside in Florida. My husband
and I visited the Anchorage zoo dozens of times and our special project
was Maggie. I first saw her in 1991 and last saw her in 2001. Maggie was
frequently a target of abusive press in Anchorage. She was usually
described as "mean-tempered, ornery, vicious," when writing
about her. I kept a scrapbook of these articles which I unfortunately
lost in my move.
As a result of the negative press articles, I noticed on many occasions
that visitors to the zoo (to Maggie's enclosure, which was horribly
inadequate), would taunt poor Maggie, throw things at her, try to hit
her trunk, if Maggie was leaning over the moat area, and generally
behave meanly towards the lonely girl. Several times I heard parents
tell their youngsters, "Maggie is a mean, vicious elephant. You
don't have to be nice to her." It was so cruel, words cannot begin
to describe it.
I am overjoyed that Tina was rescued from a poor enclosure in Canada.
Though I have only seen Tina's old quarters through photos, I can tell
you right now that Maggie's enclosure is smaller, more barren and more
depressing. In addition, there is a long documented history of having
abusive "trainers" handle Maggie. No wonder she was supposedly
"mean tempered." I have read how she is chained in the winter
in the the tiny barn which was on plain view to visitors to the zoo. So
few visitors even pondered the life Maggie had to endure in our freezing
winters. Please, I am willing to help in any way to get Maggie to
Tennessee. Here is a tiny example of the bad press Maggie has received. In this article,
she is openly refered to as "mean." It breaks my heart. http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives/documentff34.html." "I spent 2 yrs. in Alaska and took my son to see Maggie at her zoo. Her
enclosure is smaller than Tina's was in Vancouver and her keepers didn't
seem nearly as nice as Tina's handlers were. Maggie was miserable and
lonesome, one could see that quite clearly."