Circus elephant Benny stuck in Mexico
ADI’s Rescue Team is fighting to prevent Benny being returned to the circus, and to bring him to the PAWS sanctuary in the US. Please help bring Benny to safety.
At the centre of a legal and administrative tangle, Benny is the victim of a flawed system.
Benny was seized when the circus that owned him, Circo Vasquez, crossed the border from the US into Mexico without valid paperwork. Stuck in a Mexican government facility, Zacango Zoo in Toluca, near Mexico City, Benny’s home is no more than a temporary facility, without sufficient space.
Poor Benny is another example of the large numbers of almost invisible animals lost in the US circus and entertainment industries, being shunted from place to place with nobody to protect them.
ADI and PAWS are determined to help Benny, and bring him to a sanctuary in the US.
You can help Benny
1. Write letters to your federal legislators and ask that Congress conduct hearings on the lack of enforcement by federal agencies which allows circuses to play the shell game with endangered animals.
2. Write, call, or email the Minister of Tourism in Mexico and ask that Benny be returned to the United States, but not returned to the circus industry. He should not be living in a tiny space as an attraction for tourists.
Rodolfo Elizondo Torres
Minister of Tourism
Av. Presidente Masaryk #172
Chapultepec Morales 11587
Mexico City, Mexico
Tel. +52(55)30.02.63.00
Email: atencion@sectur.gob.mx
Contact Mexico tourism offices in the United States:
Mexico Tourism Board
21 East 63rd Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10021
Telephone: 1-800-44MEXICO
Email: newyork@visitmexico.com
Mexico Government Tourist Office
4507 San Jacinto, Suite 308
Houston, TX 77004
Telephone: 1-713-772-2581
Email: houston@visitmexico.com
3. If you plan travel to Mexico, voice your disapproval of Benny’s situation. Try to get support from Mexican citizens and animal welfare organizations.