‘Elephant’ Seeking Kindness in Chicago Throws Ceremonial First Pitch at Cubs-Reds Game

September 12, 2005: The highlight of the September 12 Chicago Cubs-Cincinnati Reds game occurred before either team took the field when 7-year-old Chicagoan Alexandra Graff, sporting an elephant mask and a T-shirt emblazoned with “Vote Yes,” threw out the first pitch in front of a sold-out crowd at Wrigley Field. Alexandra, an active PETA member, was drumming up support for the landmark Elephant Protection Ordinance pending in Chicago. She spent her summer gathering signatures in support of the ordinance from beachgoers, friends, and neighbors in her community, and with the support of her mother, Kimberly Carey, Alexandra seized the opportunity to participate in the ceremonial pitch that PETA won through an online charity auction.

The ordinance, introduced by Alderman Mary Ann Smith of Ward 48, if passed, would mandate that any elephant brought into the city have more suitable space, humane living conditions, and safe handling. The ordinance would require that elephants be given many acres to roam and would ban chaining and painful devices including steel-tipped bullhooks and electric prods routinely used by circuses to punish and dominate elephants.

Currently, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which opposes the humane handling measures introduced by the ordinance, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for alleged elephant abuse. Video footage taken of an August 2004 incident, which shows a Ringling handler hitting and jabbing a 7-year-old elephant with a bullhook, was described by an elephant expert as clear abuse. In 1999, Benjamin, a 4-year-old baby elephant, drowned in a pond after fleeing from a Ringling trainer who was threatening him with a bullhook.

You Can Help

If you are a Chicago resident, please take the time to write a letter to your alderman urging him or her to vote in favor of the Elephant Protection Ordinance. It is critical that aldermen hear from constituents today so that they know how much support elephants have in Chicago. Don’t worry about drafting a lengthy letter—it is most important that you simply ask your alderman to support the Elephant Protection Ordinance. You can identify which ward you live in by entering your street address at http://66.107.4.19/keybook.asp. Contact information for aldermen can be found at http://www.cityofchicago.org/CityCouncil/.

If you don’t live in Chicago, you can help by contacting Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Let him know that you spend time and money in his city and encourage him to support the ordinance:

The Honorable Richard Daley
Mayor of Chicago
Office of the Mayor
121 N. LaSalle, Rm. 507
Chicago, IL 60602
312-744-3300
312-744-8045 (fax)
mayordaley@cityofchicago.org