PAWS ALERT
It's Official!
Governor Brown Signs California Ban on Elephant Bullhooks
 
PAWS is very proud to report that California Governor Jerry Brown has signed SB 1062, the bill to ban the use of cruel bullhooks on elephants. PAWS has long campaigned to "Ban the Bullhook!" not just in California but across the nation. California is now the second state to prohibit bullhooks, after Rhode Island enacted a ban in July.
 
"PAWS applauds Governor Brown for signing SB 1062 into law and thanks Senator Ricardo Lara for his leadership and great compassion for elephants," said PAWS President Ed Stewart. "We are proud to have been a co-sponsor of this important law that will ensure these highly intelligent, sensitive and self-aware animals get the respect and protection they deserve."
 
The bullhook is a weapon resembling a fireplace poker, with a sharpened steel tip and hook at the end. It has only one use: to control elephants through fear and pain. Handlers sharply strike, hook, and jab elephants with the bullhook, sometimes causing puncture wounds and lacerations. The device is most commonly used in circuses, elephant rides and other "entertainment," however, some zoos continue to cling to this archaic and inhumane device.
 
At the ARK 2000 sanctuary our keepers rely on positive reinforcement training, food treats, and praise to train and manage our elephants, and provide a full range of husbandry and veterinary care. PAWS has worked with elephants for more than 30 years, including bulls and highly dangerous elephants, and never used a bullhook.
 
The California ban on bullhooks is one more powerful indicator that public attitudes about the treatment and use of elephants in circuses, rides and traveling shows are rapidly changing. Stewart stated: "This is the beginning of the end for the use of elephants and other wild animals in entertainment."
  
PAWS played a key role in passing bullhook bans in Los Angeles and Oakland, and has been active in the passage of ordinances in other major U.S. cities and the Rhode Island state ban. We are often called on to provide critical support and expert testimony for key legislation affecting captive wildlife because of our world-recognized expertise and decades of hands-on elephant care.
 
Please make a donation today to celebrate this huge win for the elephants and to help PAWS continue its important work to "Ban the Bullhook!" and to end the suffering of elephants and other wild animals in circuses and traveling shows.
 
Thank you!
Performing Animal Welfare Society 
P. O. Box 849, Galt, CA 95632 | (209) 745-2606 | info@pawsweb.org