Let W Magazine Know That Feature of Elephants in Designer Duds Is a Real ‘Dud’

Let W Magazine Know That Feature of Elephants in Designer Duds Is a Real ‘Dud’

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W magazine recently published a photo spread featuring clothing “modeled” by elephants, supporting the misguided notion that it is acceptable to use animals for our amusement.

The elephants in this feature are identified as Rosie, Dixie, and Tai, who belong to Have Trunk Will Travel. In June 2001, a Have Trunk Will Travel elephant supplied to perform shows at the Denver Zoo ran amok. According to news reports, the 6,700-pound elephant became startled and rampaged, throwing her trainer against a wall, scattering crowds of zoogoers, and knocking over a mother and her baby in a stroller. The baby was treated at a hospital for a bump on the head, the trainer suffered cuts and bruises, a man suffered a sprained ankle, and a woman had an asthma attack while running away. It took three hours to recapture the elephant.

Elephants who are forced to perform on command are often trained to do so through domination and painful techniques that employ bullhooks, electric prods, and “hotshots”—handheld devices that deliver electric shocks. In comments concerning federal policy changes regarding training and handling practices, a statement submitted by Have Trunk Will Travel read, “The hotshot is a tool that when used judiciously can aid in the safety and training of animals and personnel.”

At a time when Asian elephants in the wild are threatened with extinction, W magazine’s decision to reduce these intelligent and sensitive animals to oddities garbed in pink corsets, ungainly pantsuits, and wrinkled T-shirts in demeaning circus-style poses, is irresponsible to say the least.

Please write polite letters urging W magazine’s bureau chief to discontinue this promotion and any future advertisements that feature captive elephants. Point out that animation, animatronics, and Computer Generated Images (without the use of live animals) are the most effective and safest methods for getting the best “performance” from an animal character.

Christopher Bagley, Bureau Chief
W Magazine c/o Fairchild Publications
6300 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 720
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323-951-1825
323-951-1064 (fax)
christopher.bagley [at] fairchildpub.com

To learn more about the plight of elephants in captivity, please visit SaveWildElephants.com.