The emotional reunion of two elephants after 22 years – Victims of the circuses

Shirley and Jenny were both in the same circus (Carson and Barnes), When Jenny was a young and Shirley was already in her veins.

During their lives as slaves, they lost great part of his health until they could reencontrase in a sanctuary of Tennessee after 22 years of separation.
The now not so small Jenny had reached the sanctuary the 11 in September of 1996 , three years before Shirley. Both possessed sequels of their lives as slaves. Shirley, the largest elephant, reached the sanctuary the 6 in July of 1999 and had an injury to the right leg, a large part of his right ear is missing due to a fire that also left him with scars number on the back, face and feet. Jenny, For his part he also had sequelae of his life in the circus, He had seriously injured rear left leg, was blind in one eye, He had hurt the top of his right ear, and had permanently curved the lower part of its tail.

His joy to the reenchantase was huge, they left behind a life of exploitation to start a healthy life in the sanctuary. When were with Jenny, They recognized and acariciaron immediately through the bars. Shirley began to roar strongly and Jenny responded excitedly.

«Jenny went to the stable for the first time since Shirley's arrival at around the 19:00 hours. She wanted to approach Shirley, It was separated by two compartments. Once we allow Shirley to be in the adjacent compartment, the interaction between her and Jenny became very intense. Jenny wanted to enter the enclosure with despair. She was agitated, hitting the door and trying to pass through and climb to the other side. «

«After several minutes of touching and exploring each other, Shirley began to roar and I refer to roar- Jenny joined immediately. The interaction was spectacular, Both elephants trying to frantically caress each other through the bars. I have never experienced anything, not even close, to this depth of emotion «

– Carol Bucley, Director of the Santuarior

Shirley and Jenny. Life in the circus

Shirley, was born in the wild in Sumatra (Indonesian) in the year 1948, but was captured and washed away his family in 1953 When I had only 5 years of age. She was taken to work to the Kelly Miller circus, and then others such as the Carson and Barnes where he met Jenny and together spent only one winter but not them impido recognized 22 years later.

His life in circuses stayed for tortuous 30 years. In one of his trips to the circus, He was one of the survivors of the burning of the ship that was carrying along with other animals when I was in Nova Scotia. In 1975, at the age of twenty-eight years, While it was exploited in the Lewis Brothers Circus, Shirley was attacked by another elephant. His right rear leg was seriously injured. Despite his injury, Shirley was forced to act in the circus for almost two more years before being sold to Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo in Monroe.

Usually, female elephants live in groups, but with his injury related security problems, Shirley was kept alone all the time for twenty-two years. Since she was listed and remained alone all the time, the zoo is contact the sanctuary so it was moved.

It could finally be moved and arrived the 6 in July of 1999. Arriving, they waited more than two hours so that it fell of the truck; the sanctuary respected Shirley times; He held that she should do it when she was ready. Shirley could join Tarra, Barbara and Jenny three residents at the time and establish a strong mother-daughter relationship with Jenny.

Jenny, was born in the year 1969 also in Sumatra (Indonesian), However, it was not there where they met with Shirley since already in 1953 Shirley had been taken from his family. Jenny could only be with his family during the first 4 years of his life, then it was sold to the Carson and Barnes circus where are known.

In January of 1992, after fleeing their exploiters several times during the shows at the circus, they sent Jenny to a farm called Hawthorn Corporation. Four months later, Jenny suffered a serious injury in his left rear leg, caused by an elephant, which prevented him from walking normally. Jenny did not receive treatment for his injury, His life was not important to his exploiters and only received an analgesic. At this point, He also had other parts of his injured body. Thus, in March of 1993, almost a year after injury, The breeder considered her useless for her business, did not serve as a player. It was sold to a small circus from the United States and was exploited there for two years until the competition for food with the other elephants and its attempt to stay in balance made its situation more complicated and that it was more and more difficult to climb and get off the cage truck. As a result, Jenny was enclosed trailer inside most of the time.

In April of 1995, Jenny's owner decided that she was simply "useless" and got rid of her in a shelter of animals in poor condition on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Jenny was severely below its weight, He did not use his injured leg and had developed a chronicle rot in his foot. (What would then cause death)
Over the next fifteen months, the Jenny situation not improved. In this hostel, it was exposed to the elements, at temperatures below zero and imprisoned by chains during the night due to the inadequacy of the facilities, or received professional treatment.

Surprisingly, the 22 in July of 1996, the sanctuary was contacted by the owners of Jenny and they asked her to take. The sanctuary did not have enough money to cover the transfer and all costs but after a campaign to raise the funds, the 11 September, Jenny came to the sanctuary and took his first step towards freedom. With fear and timidity at the beginning, She was visibly relaxed when Tarra (first resident of the sanctuary) He gently stroked the head of Jenny with its trunk and finally convinced her to entangle the horns.

Three years later he rejoined Shirley. Shirley and Jenny's encounter was very moving but according to Carol, Director of the sanctuary, Nothing compares to Jenny's last days of life. They only were able to enjoy their lives together during 10 years since Jenny died due to a bacterial sepsis which was later proven by a necropsy.

Jenny's death
Jenny had arrived at the very sick sanctuary. He had scars and other footprints of his past as a circus elephant. She had been exposed to tuberculosis, And I had a lying leg.

«The day before dying, Jenny had been lying down and didn't get up. Shirley was with her and insisted that Jenny be lifted. Little Jenny couldn't get up, but tried and rose, relying on Shirley to maintain balance. If looked at the face of Shirley, You could see that she knew that Jenny was dying. "

Jenny was on his deathbed when Shirley turned to the forests of the sanctuary. Jenny began making noises; With each exhalation he made a particular rumble, was almost like a song. Bunny and Tara (the two elephants in the sanctuary) came running and then, joined the song of farewell.

«At one point, I turned to Scott (Director of the elephant sanctuary) And I asked how long it had spent. He said that 58 minutes! Well, continued for two hours. Jenny lived throughout the night and was even cheerful.

¨When Jenny died, I emitted a sound that I had never heard. It was like a trumpet. It was very low and became more and more silent. She was very quietly without forcing herself. Enjoying this ritual was incredible. I had never seen anything the same. "

Shirley stayed in the forest and did not eat for two days. «It was very difficult and especially hard in Shirley. It was like a mother to lose her baby. "

Fortunately, Shirley had some family members for support in sad moments. Shirley is very close to an elephant called Bunny – the two are like sisters. Bunny came to the sanctuary just two months after Shirley.

¨ Jenny's death has been difficult for all elephants, but they are recovering. The healing process may have been accelerated by a new elephant, Misty, It has come from another area of the sanctuary. She is a very happy creature, She loves all the elephants and run around. She is a happy energy ball. "

In memory of Jenny and all the animals that still continue to be victims of specism today.

1ª and 2nd part of Shirley's video the elephant

Via: especismocero.org