In Memory of Jenny
aka 'Jenny Jelly Bean'
1969 ~ October 17, 2006
Born: 1969
Birth place: Sumatra
Birth status: wild born
• Captured from the wild - 1973
• Life before the Sanctuary - performed with the Carson and Barnes Circus
• Reason for coming to the Sanctuary
- crippled while on breeding loan to the Hawthorn Corporation and dumped
at a private dog and cat shelter in Las Vegas
• Moved to The Elephant Sanctuary ~ September 11, 1996
• Jenny passed away peacefully October 17, 2006 surrounded by those she
loved most ~ Shirley, Bunny, Tarra and her caregivers.
Height: 8' 2"
Weight: 6,500
lbs.
Favorite Food: Potatoes
Jenny spent her entire captive
life performing in circuses. In January
1992, after repeatedly running away from
her trainers during circus performances, Jenny was sent to the Hawthorn
Corporation on a breeding loan.
Four
months later, Jenny sustained a serious injury to her left hind
leg, caused by a bull elephant. Due
to this, she walked with a limp. Jenny did not receive treatment
for her injury, but instead was put on butazone, a pain killer.
In addition, Jenny was exposed to the breeding bull daily for the
next ten months in the hope that she would become pregnant.
This
handicap did not prevent Jenny from running,
swimming, and lying down. What it did was
slow her down. She
had a notch out of the top of her right
ear, her right eye was blind and she had
a bend at the bottom of her tail.
In March 1993, almost one year
after Jenny's injury, she was declared "useless" as a breeder. She was sold to a small circus and traveled throughout the United States for the next two years. Competing for food with the other elephants and trying to balance herself in the moving trailer soon took its toll on Jenny's already fragile condition. She deteriorated to the point where loading in and out of the trailer was nearly impossible. As a result, Jenny was left inside the elephant trailer most of the time.
In April 1995, Jenny's owner decided
that she was "worthless" and dumped her at a dilapidated animal shelter outside of Las Vegas. When Jenny arrived, she was severely underweight, not using her injured leg, and had developed chronic foot rot, which is life threatening if untreated. Her new owner insisted that now Jenny would get the care she so desperately needed.
In the intervening fifteen months, Jenny's
situation did not improve. In her new home, Jenny was exposed to
below-freezing weather and put in chains at night due to inadequate
facilities. Because of her untreated injury and foot rot, Jenny
continued to bear little weight on her leg and received no professional
treatment for her condition. Recently, 20/20 did a piece
on captive elephants, and Jenny was included in the story. The footage
documented Jenny standing in feces, underweight, living in inadequate
facilities, cared for by unknowledgeable keepers, with very little
hope of change.
Amazingly, on July 22, 1996, we
were contacted by Jenny's owners and asked to take her. However,
due to the recent rescue of Barbara, the emaciated elephant we saved
in April of the same year, we were not in a financial position to
accept Jenny. We frantically began the "Rescue Jenny Fund"which
was met with great response. Because Jenny's health was deteriorating
daily, The Elephant Sanctuary Board took a mammoth financial risk
by rescuing her before all of the funds were raised.
On September 11, Jenny arrived at
the Sanctuary and took her first step to freedom. Afraid and shy
at first, she visibly relaxed when Tarra (the Sanctuary's first
resident) gently stroked Jenny's head with her trunk and finally
coaxed her to entwine trunks! Everyone watched through tears of
relief and joy at this obvious display of comfort and love.Jenny
took joy in every one of her new family members over the next ten
years and her life was filled with unparalled bliss when Shirley
arrived, and the two reunited in a mother-daughter bond. For
over ten years Jenny lived every day with adventure and joy, her
spirit filled every heart that knew her.
On October 17, 2006
Jenny died after a long illness, surrounded by Shirley, Bunny and
Tarra and her caregivers. Just as she lived, Jenny entered death
harmoniously. In a blessing to herself and her family her final
days, hours and minutes were filled with joy and love and her passing
was in the arms of all who loved her so dearly.
