48.0°
Overcast
5 Day Forecast
CBS Logo
Hide
Closed Captioning Information

Quick Links

Viewer Submitted Pictures

Spring!

Courtesy: Glenn Sanborn

Full Gallery - Submit Pictures

Poll of the Day

TV5 Forecast Center

radar
Full Weather Forecast >

Rosie the Elephant Update

by Joy Hollowell - October 3rd 2011 09:55pm - Read more Local News

Hope - The town of Hope is expected to welcome a new resident soon.

She's 42-years old, used to work in the circus, and weighs a whopping six thousand pounds.

Joy Hollowell updates us on plans to bring Rosie the elephant to Maine.
=====
The clock is ticking for veterinarian Jim Laurita. In just a few weeks, this all needs to be ready for a very large package coming from Oklahoma.

"Oh yeah, she knows she's getting more attention than usual," says Dr. Laurita. "And she's interested in that attention."

She, is Rosie. The 42-year old retired circus elephant has permanent nerve damage from a leg injury. Dr. Laurita is bringing Rosie to live next door to his home in Hope.

"She's got an indoor stall, over 1,100 square feet," says Dr. Laurita. "And the slab has the radiant heat in it. On top of that slab is going to be 6-8 inches of washed river sand, which is really nice and soft for her to be standing on."

This week, a state of the art lift is due to arrive. Instead of a crane, the device uses inflatable air to gently lift the animal if she needs it.

"Because of her injuries, she really likes to lay on a side hill," says Dr. Laurita. "So indoor, inside her indoor stall and outdoors in her arce of paddock and pasture, we're going to have a nice sand hill."

Once Rosie arrives, Dr. Laurita will immediately begin a series of therapies, including ultrasound, Accupunture and Accupressure. Within the next year, he expects to have a water treadmill at the rehabilitation facility.

"You have this idea," says Dr. Laurita, "and you know you have goals but to see it coming, with the girders going up and to see it all coming together is really a great feeling and makes me feel happy to know that she's going to feel very comfortable, very soon."
+++++
If you'd like more information on Rosie and her rehabilitation facility in Hope, log onto www.hopeelephants.org

In Defense of Animals has publically campaigned against bringing Rosie to Maine. In an email to TV 5, they say "IDA along with some of the world's most renowned elephant experts, continue to be concerned with her welfare
due to the fact that she will be kept alone, which is inhumane for an
elephant, and because she will be forced to live indoors in a tiny
space for the majority of the time. According to experts who have
extensive experience working with elephants, none of Dr. Laurita's
proposed therapies, however well intentioned, can overcome the
negative effects of keeping an arthritic elephant confined to a small
environment."

Print this Story

Comments

13 comments so far. Add Yours!
I am entirely dismayed to learn that Rosie will be brought to Maine to live her life alone, away from other elephants. This is truly inhumane no matter how it is sugar coated.
Patricia Keene Patricia Keene 10/03/2011 05:49 pm
I'm interested.... does he simply not understand how horrible it is for an elephant to be without other elephants, or is his ego so large that he refuses to comprehend?
barbara garrett barbara garrett 10/03/2011 07:04 pm
Thanks for adding the views of INA to the tail of this article. I've read many articles citing experts who believe bringing Rosie to Maine is wrong, I've read of no experts supporting this veterinarian.
Olde Hippie Olde Hippie 10/04/2011 04:34 am
There is no guarantee Rosie will ever live in Maine. Dr. Laurita stills needs state and federal permits, which can be neither granted nor denied, until the small barn now under construction in his backyard is completed.
In addition to IDA, there are many people - local to Hope, across Maine, and beyond - campaigning on Rosie's behalf. They understand the plan to keep Rosie alone in Maine, in a small stall and on one acre, does not come close to adequately providing for her physical and emotional needs. She would be miserable.
Elephants require many acres of open space, with varied and interesting features, usable year round in moderate weather and other elephants with whom to bond (the Hope facility has room for only one elephant), in order to thrive. Yes, she moves with some difficulty, but the opportunity to walk and explore at will would do her a world of good both physically and mentally. PAWS Sanctuary in California or The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee can provide Rosie with the acreage, companionship, climate, veterinary care and experienced staff, she needs. Tom Laurita, co-founder of Hope Elephants, has said Rosie "is in a situation if she doesn't get better she might have to be put down". Because her fundamental needs for elephant companionship, open space, and moderate weather cannot be met in Hope, moving to Maine may actually be Rosie's best chance for premature euthanasia. There is no good reason to subject Rosie to living out her life in Maine, especially when there are two far superior alternatives.
Mainegal12 Mainegal12 10/04/2011 06:59 pm
I am afraid Rosie will turn into a sideshow attraction, and she has had enough of that. She needs to be with others of her own kind. She needs space to roam. In the wild, they travel many miles in one day. What is an acre to an animal like this? She needs to be in warmer weather where she can play in the water and have companionship
Belbowes Belbowes 10/04/2011 07:58 pm
Joy Hollowell, how can you possibly say you are an objective journalist with this chirpy article?!!! Where is your research? Did you not just see a VERY SMALL enclosure for an elephant in which she has to spend all winter alone? Do you not know that one acre means little to the needed movement of joints and muscles to an elephant? Do you not know that elephants need other elephants for company, not some selfish vet, and selfish Laurita is to do this to Rosie. I do not see how you do not know this knowledge because Hope has been written to by the foremost authorities in the world on elephant needs, and you take the word of some backwater vet with CIRCUS experience (abuse to start with)? Why would a journalist join such ignor-ance - to ignore education when it comes one's way? It is understandable that a very selfish man would want an elephant all to himself, elephant's needs be darned. It is not understandable how a whole town can go along with this abuse, and it is especially not understandable that a journalist would overlook the elephant in the room - she doesn't belong there.
10/04/2011 08:03 pm
For goodness sake, it doesn't take an expert to realize that indoor barn is entirely too small not to mention the fact that she will live alone. Elephants are highly social animals so how is this in her best welfare? Maine is extremely cold the majority of the year which means she will live alone in this small barn a large amount of the time. I sincerely hope that the state of Maine and the town of Hope intervene for Rosie's sake.
10/04/2011 08:16 pm
The danger with press like this is that the average person reading it will believe that the heated floor and river sand are going to make a huge diff in her life. And most will say "how kind of this man to move Rosie to live right next to his home in Maine. What needs to be emphasized is that Elephants need Elephants to learn from and communicate with. Humans are never a replacement and living in a small box next to a kind man is not enough.
How many more Elephants must die in human made cells, isolated much of their lives or mistreated and damaged, before the AZA and Dept. of Ag. recognize that they are poor caretakers of Elephants and they need to let all Elephants retire to P.A.W.S. or The Elephant Sanctuary once and for all.
Rene Hersey Rene Hersey 10/04/2011 11:15 pm
I'm concerned that Jim Laurita said there's no documentation that low temperatures are bad for elephants. This is entirely inaccurate. Association of Zoos and Aquariums standards call for a temperature at least in the 40s to let elephants outdoors. How many days of temps below 40-something does Maine have? Is Laurita misinformed or ill-informed? Seems like something a vet should know.
Misty Misty 10/05/2011 03:28 pm
I would echo all of the before mentioned comments about this man and his project. A project that will surely produce a worse off elephant if not a dead one. Man can not do for elephants what other elephants can do for elephants.
Stacy Davis Stacy Davis 10/05/2011 10:29 pm
I would echo all of the above comments. This man and his project will surely produce a worse off elephant or a dead elephant. Man can not do for elephants what other elephants can do for elephants. Rosie needs to go to a sanctuary where a loving trunk awaits to give her a big hug.
10/05/2011 10:35 pm
As we see it, the overriding issue is that elephants suffer, on many levels, in circuses - this is known, observed and documented. Surely the solution is a total ban on elephants performing in circuses - given that the USA, unlike Europe, already has genuine sanctuaries to which the elephants could gradually be re-homed, and without breaking up their companionships.
What Hope Elephants appears to be aiming to do is to find ways of treating ailing elephants (whose health issues are a direct result of the appalling, detrimental conditions of circus life), so that they can then return to performing.
We can only conclude that Hope Elephants will do nothing to break - let alone eliminate - the circle of abuse, deprivation and humiliation which performing elephants have to endure.
We would ask Hope Elephants to clarify its true purpose.
Michael and Sheila Medlar Michael and Sheila Medlar 10/06/2011 06:22 am
Very sad. I know the intentions are good here, but why not help Rosie get to a true sanctuary, like PAWS or the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary where she can socialize with other elephants. Dr. Laurita says he plans to get a water treadmill in a year, but PAWS already has a whirlpool bath for elephants with arthritis and foot problems. Too bad for Rosie. I'll hope this story isn't over and there is still "Hope" for Rosie.
Cathy Jonas Cathy Jonas 11/04/2011 03:57 pm

Add your Comments

Add your comments to the discussion. By submitting a comment, you agree to the terms of the terms of use and are 18 years of age or older.

Fields marked with a * are required.

Want a personal picture next to your comment? Sign up for a free Gravatar or post with your facebook account.

Facebook Comments

Breaking News from CBS


See more CBS Live Feed