The system is being foiled in the case of the proposed and agreed upon plan to send the Toronto Zoo's three remaining African elephants to an elephant sanctuary in California run by PAWS. To some, it seems a predictable case of the bureaucracy -- i.e.: the zoo people who want the prestige of having elephants -- trying to short circuit or sabotage decisions of those who are their bosses.
The ethical dimension of confining elephants in zoos has generated a great deal of debate in Canada. Elephants are intelligent, sensitive creatures whose physical, psychological and emotional needs simply cannot be met in zoos. Releasing them to sanctuaries is the best way to express our compassion for animals.