EDMONTON — Former television game show host Bob Barker says he’s willing to put up $100,000 to make sure the Edmonton Valley Zoo’s lone elephant gets another checkup.
Lucy is at the centre of a battle between the city and animal rights activists who want her moved to a warmer climate to live with other elephants. They say she has been sick for years and is lonely since the zoo’s only other pachyderm was lent to a North Carolina animal centre for breeding 3 1/2 years ago.
A veterinary specialist hired by the city said earlier this month that Lucy has lost weight and is generally in better health but still has breathing problems that make it too dangerous to move her.
Barker would like elephant experts selected by Zoocheck Canada and Performing Animal Welfare Society to examine Lucy, who is in her mid-30s.
“It’s crucial that Lucy’s condition be accurately diagnosed before her health deteriorates further,” Barker said in a release Tuesday. “It is indefensible that Lucy has been forced to live in misery for all these years.”
He says the city could use his $100,000 in any way it wished.
“I sincerely hope the city of Edmonton will allow outside experts to help Lucy so her suffering can be ended,” he said. “It seems like a win-win-win scenario to me. The zoo wins, concerned citizens win, but, most importantly of all, Lucy wins.”
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said the city is “doing the right thing with Lucy.”
“It’s sad that people seem to care more about the philosophy rather than the elephant itself,” he said.
“We’ve had unending numbers of veterinarians look at Lucy and say the best place for Lucy is in Edmonton, that she is happy here, and if you move her it could cause her death.
“Our interest is Lucy. Other people’s interest is a broader base.”
The fight to move Lucy has also been taken up by actor William Shatner and former NHL player Georges Laraque. The former Edmonton Oiler has also offered $100,000 to the city — but only if Lucy is moved.
The battle has also become a legal one. An appeal is still to be heard of a judge’s decision last summer to dismiss arguments by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Zoocheck that Lucy should be moved.