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Story by Terry

I was raised in a very small community, the old saying “blink and you might miss it” was true.

When I was 10 years old our family moved to the big city. This would be the first time I ever saw an elephant. It was when the circus came to town! At 10 years old this sounded so exciting listening to all my new friends.

The Shriners Circus arrived and my mom took us kids to the circus. It was the worst experience of my young life. I was sad and upset to see these large animals known as elephants doing “tricks” and to see the man use a “stick” on the beautiful animals. When Mom wanted to take us later we refused to go. This was not a fun time.

As back in the 80’s and 90’s there was no internet and or social media – – the next time I heard of elephants and circuses was Tyke. What happened to Tyke angered me. At the time we only had TV news so again elephants were put at the back of the mind.

Then Tina from the Vancouver Zoo awakened me to the plight of elephants. I followed the campaign to free her from the Vancouver Zoo and find a home for this Girl. After a long campaign she was going to a place in Tennessee.

Upon Tina’s arrival at TES I learned they had a website and more elephants. I read every page and learned about each of the resident elephants. I was saddened to learn of Tina’s passing but happy for her as she finally had elephant friends.

I knew that I had to continue working for all Tina’s sisters and brothers who needed help. I started to learn more and more of the world of elephants, the deplorable conditions that some live in and how we are destroying their habitats and the elephants, themselves.

I have come to know, respect and completely support Kat and Scott Blais of Global Sanctuary for Elephants. They are continuing their mission to help elephants worldwide.