A New "Single Lady": Patty the elephant.
5/29/24
PATTY
With the passing of Carol, we are sad to share that another tragedy has occurred: her constant companion, Patty, is now ALONE at Myakka Elephant Ranch.
Carol and Patty had been together since they were young. They were both ripped from the wilds of Thailand and beaten into performing stupid circus tricks by Carden International Circus who then rented them out to Ringling Bros, Royal Hanneford and Shrine Circuses (see the bottom of this page for a video of Patty in the circus). Through all of the traveling, the beatings, the rides and the stupid tricks—they at least had each other. Now Patty finds herself alone.
Myakka Elephant Ranch is NOT a sanctuary. It is owned by Lou Barreda, whose father Jorge was cited numerous times by the USDA for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act related to proper elephant care. At Myakka, elephants are used for profit under the guise of “conservation”. Visitors pay large sums to give an elephant an entirely unnecessary “spa day” and to take photos.
Barreda has limited options in terms of bringing more elephants to his business. There are very few elephants traveling with circuses available to join her. If Barreda actually cared about elephants, he’d close his “ranch” and send Patty to a reputable sanctuary. But he probably won’t—since he is a profiteer that lives off of elephant exploitation.
Patty the elephant deserves sanctuary. And the chance to have friends of her own species.
Until we learn that Barreda has done the right thing—Patty joins the five other elephants (Asha, Bubbles, Lady Essex, Minnie and Okha) in our Single Ladies campaign. Please visit the campaign page to sign the petition demanding the USDA take action for all privately owned, singly-held female elephants.
ADDITIONAL CAMPAIGN UPDATES: Asha and Okha
Asha: A recent USDA report shows that Asha remains at Two Tails Ranch in Williston, Florida. Though four other elephants are listed in their inventory, Asha is the only African elephant at Two Tails. For that reason, we presume she is still being held separately from the Asian elephants (African and Asian elephants are different species). For that reason, she remains as a part of our campaign.
Recent communication from Natural Bridge Zoo indicated that Asha was never to return to the Zoo. Because of this information and because of her inclusion on the USDA report for Two Tails, we presume she is there to stay.
Okha: Poor Okha has been forced back into circus performance by the ever-horrible Brian Franzen. She is traveling with a two-bit circus in Texas called Mysterious Circus. We are monitoring her well-being as often as possible. We have noted that Okha seems uninterested in performing and unwilling to endure some tricks – with some of her most notable tricks being left off all together. This is unsurprising as 54 year old Okha is now elderly and long-deserving of retirement in the company of other elephants and far away from elephant exploiter Franzen.
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This video of Patty shows how horrible her life has been. She spent decades in the circus without any semblance of a normal, natural life. We advise sensitive viewers to please use caution if you choose to watch as this video shows Patty in distress.
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