It is with deep sadness that we report the passing of Pat Derby, the former animal trainer who saw the error of the entertainment industry's ways and spent the rest of her life helping captive animals by providing them with safe havens at her three spacious Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuaries in California. Pat died at her home on Friday.

Pat assisted PETA with many of our campaigns, most recently by providing Ben, the bear we pried out of the clutches of the abysmal Jambbas Ranch, with a permanent home. I defy you not to tear up at footage of Ben splashing happily in a pond at a PAWS sanctuary after spending years in a cramped, barren cage:

In 2007, PAWS also opened its gates to Maggie, a wild-caught African elephant who spent 24 years largely confined to a concrete barn at the Alaska Zoo—10 of those years alone after the zoo's other elephant died. Maggie reportedly collapsed twice in one week and had to be hoisted to her feet with the aid of a winch. She was then suspended in a sling to prevent her from collapsing again. After years of pressure from PETA, the zoo finally allowed her to be moved to a more suitable climate and to live in the company of other elephants, and she has been thriving since her move to PAWS.

PAWS is also home to Nicholas and Gypsy, the last two elephants of the 16 the Hawthorn Corporation was forced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to relinquish after PETA filed repeated complaints with the agency about abuse and neglect at Hawthorn. PETA continues to keep up the pressure on Hawthorn, a supplier of animals to circuses, since it still has tigers and other animals in its custody.

On behalf of Ben, Maggie, Nicholas, Gypsy, and so many others, we thank Pat for her lifelong crusade. Pat may be gone, but her spirit lives on—as do the animals—in the heaven that she created here on Earth.

I've got some great news and some not-so-great news. The great news is that the Toronto Zoo has heeded the call of animal defenders, including Bob Barker, and decided to close its elephant display, joining more than a dozen other zoos that have done the same thing. What's more, the Toronto Zoo has agreed that it will not send Toka, Iringa and Thika to any facility that uses bullhooks.
 

jmbone/cc by 2.0

 
The not-so-great news is that instead of sending the elephants to the spacious comfort of a sanctuary, the zoo seems intent on sending them to another zoo.

The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in California is willing and able to immediately provide these elephants with the many acres of natural habitat that they need to thrive, warmer weather, and the companionship of other elephants. Toka, Iringa, and Thika deserve no less, and we're appealing to the zoo to send them to PAWS.

Another Canadian elephant in desperate need of retirement is Lucy, who spends her days alone in Edmonton's Valley Zoo. Please ask city officials to send Lucy south.

 
Written by Jennifer O'Connor