PAWS Sanctuaries: A Commitment to Animal Welfare and Caretaker Safety
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Catherine Doyle, Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
October 2014

To be a sanctuary means that you put the animals first. This includes adopting best practices that safeguard the animals' health and welfare, and, very importantly, keep the people who care for them safe. Not only do we work with dangerous wild animals at PAWS, we understand that each one of them has been physically and psychologically scarred by captivity, making them even more unpredictable.

PAWS elephant sanctuary
Catherine Doyle at ARK 2000

PAWS president and co-founder Ed Stewart was quoted in a recent Associated Press story about a man who was crushed to death by one of the two retired circus elephants in his care at a controversial "sanctuary" in Maine. Local officials ruled the death an "accident," even though no one was present at the time the man was killed. Some have tried to rationalize the death, saying the elephant was trying to help the man, though this is highly unlikely.

The bottom line is that direct contact with elephants is unsafe, no matter how well you think you know the animal. This has been proven time and time again when tragedy strikes at a circus or in a zoo where handlers are in direct contact with elephants. Contrary to what many people believe, elephants have never been domesticated - they remain wild animals.

Ed explained in the Associated Press article that some caretakers who are in direct contact with elephants falsely believe they are safe from harm. "But of all the people who were killed, nobody thought they were going to be killed," Ed explained. "They thought it was OK. They thought they were safe. But elephants just aren't safe."

To be a sanctuary means that you put the animals first. This includes adopting best practices that safeguard the animals' health and welfare, and, very importantly, keep the people who care for them safe. Not only do we work with dangerous wild animals at PAWS, we understand that each one of them has been physically and psychologically scarred by captivity, making them even more unpredictable.

PAWS elephant sanctuary
Maggie and Lulu grazing at ARK 2000

PAWS takes the safety of our caretakers very seriously, which is why we only work with our elephants using a method called "protected contact." This means our caretakers use only
positive reinforcement training and work with the elephants through a protective steel barrier. Using this method, we are able to provide the necessary daily and veterinary care the elephants require.

The protected contact method assures the welfare of the elephants, who have the choice of whether to participate in training sessions (which they are usually quite enthusiastic about), and protects our caretakers from serious injury. We never, ever forget that we are working with extremely intelligent, large and powerful animals who can be very dangerous.

In contrast, the free contact method (or circus-style training), in which handlers are in direct contact with the elephants, uses dominance, pain and fear to control elephants. Handlers rely on the bullhook, a baton that resembles a fireplace poker with a sharp steel tip and hook at the end, to maintain that control. The bullhook is used to prod, stab, hook and strike elephants so they comply with every command. The device is used in all circuses and in a surprising number of zoos.

PAWS was pleased that to hear that PETA filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA), the U.S. agency that oversees worker safety, following the death in Maine. There is no excuse for putting elephant keepers at risk, especially when there is a far safer way to work with these dangerous animals. OSHA has already ruled that trainers at marine parks cannot perform in the water with orcas without a protective barrier between them. The decision came after the highly publicized incident in which an orca killed a trainer at SeaWorld. The agency should now prohibit direct contact with elephants.

There is another tragic, though less publicized, outcome to the story of the short-lived Maine "sanctuary." The elephants, Opal and Rosie, have been returned to the circus facility from which they came, the Endangered Ark Foundation. This was the provision that was made for the elephants in the event of the owner's death. The Carson & Barnes Circus owns the Endangered Ark Foundation, so the elephants are being sent back to the same conditions and handling they experienced before they were presumably rescued.

When an elephant or any other animal comes to PAWS, our goal is to offer a stable home for life. That is our commitment to these animals and to our wonderful donors and supporters. The animals at PAWS have suffered a great deal as a result of captivity. Our goal is to let them live out their lives in more natural conditions, while providing high quality care and plenty of TLC. They never again have to perform, be on display daily, or serve as someone's exotic "pet."

If you would like to support PAWS' mission to rescue and provide sanctuary care for wild animals in need, please make a donation today.

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