Billboards will blanket the city this week, bearing the plight of a group desperate to move Lucy the elephant to sunnier skies and greener pastures.
Messages reading “Isolation and a bitter cold winter on the way. Hasn’t she endured enough?” and “Your tax dollars pay for her suffering” will plaster billboards erected by Zoocheck Canada, one of the many groups pushing for the 34-year-old elephant’s move to a U.S. sanctuary.
The campaign begins today, exactly one month before retired Price is Right host Bob Barker is set to land in Edmonton, bent on encouraging council to send Lucy to an elephant sanctuary.
Barker plans to meet with council members on Sept. 17 to discuss Lucy’s health. He recently told Metro he hopes to visit the zoo, and that he and a team of independent medical
experts hope to examine her and her living conditions.
Valley Zoo officials have maintained Barker is free to visit the facility, but have not confirmed if he’ll be allowed a close look at Lucy.
Operations manager Dean Triechel maintains she’s treated well by her handlers, and is accustomed to a colder climate. Zoo staff claim Lucy is well, but too ill to travel.
