Slash's Appeal For Billy The Elephant At The Los Angeles Zoo

[FunkyMonkey]

Slash, a long-time animal enthusiast, needs your help. Animal activist, whose ultimate goal is to shut down zoos forever, have managed to convince the Los Angeles City Council to stop completion of a magnificent new Asian Elephant exhibit in the Los Angeles Zoo. The final decision to scrap the exhibit will be made very soon.

Slash needs you to contact The Los Angeles City Council and express your support to preserve for the future these beautiful animals.

For Los Angeles City Council contact information go to: www.billyshome.com

Slash and Billy express their profound gratitude for your help and support.

Video of Slash talking about Billy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pLETeAF2D8

And...

L.A. Zoo should free Billy the elephant

He's spent 20 years in captivity. Isn't that more than enough?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-sheldrick5-2009jan05,0,1991511.story

[loretian]

It's cool Slash is standing up for something he believes in.

That said, I'd like to express my support for animals and the humane treatment of them.  I don't want zoos to end, and for the most part, I don't believe animals are abused in zoos or that zoos are bad for animals.   I won't contact the Los Angeles City Council expressing my view though, because I don't live there and it's not for me to say.

[FunkyMonkey]

PRESS RELEASE

Slash Jams for Billy the Elephant
Musical Artist Joins Thousands of Supporters Mobilizing to Urge Los Angeles to Complete LA Zoo's Pachyderm Forest

Last update: 11:03 a.m. EST Jan. 13, 2009

LOS ANGELES, Jan 13, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Iconic rock guitarist Slash today said that he has joined the thousands of supporters mobilizing to urge the Los Angeles City Council to complete the LA Zoo's Pachyderm Forest, a state-of-the-art new educational habitat for Billy and other endangered Asian elephants.

As a touring musician, both with Guns N' Roses and more recently with Velvet Revolver, Slash has visited numerous zoos throughout the world during his free time. Slash has been a longtime supporter of the Los Angeles Zoo, where he gained his appreciation for animals as a child growing up in Southern California, and knows many of the animal handlers personally.

"I just want everybody to try to support this cause because it's very important," Slash said. "Billy has been taken care of at the zoo for about 20 years. He has four keepers who have been at his beck and call, taking care of him and providing him with optimal medical care and everything else that he needs. This enclosure is one of the nicest enclosures he could possibly have."

During a visit with his family to the zoo on Sunday, Slash toured the planned new habitat that will house endangered Asian elephants in an area larger than what Asian elephants now enjoy at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. During his visit, Slash took time out to tape a video of support from inside an area of the habitat already finished. The video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBDVJcAR2XY.

"It's really beautiful," Slash said. "It's really well done. It gives the elephants an amazing amount of room to move around. I'm a huge advocate of this particular exhibit."

As the father of two young children, Slash regularly brings his family to the Los Angeles Zoo so his children can meet the animals and learn of the fragile state many of them face in the wild. Slash has come to know numerous members of the zoo staff, describing them as "one of the most conscientious caretakers of animals I've ever met."

Said Karen Poly, a 25-year animal keeper at the zoo: "I've always been impressed with Slash's knowledge of animals. In many cases, he is even able to identify the different subspecies, something that most people can't do."

Earlier this month, Jack Hanna, one of the nation's best-known animal care experts and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo in Columbus, Ohio, called the Pachyderm Forest "a model for humane elephant care that will educate generations to come on the threats Asian elephants face in the wild" after personally inspecting the site.

However, a small group of activists is seeking to pressure the City Council to halt the Pachyderm Forest one-third into construction, even though the council approved the project 13-2 in 2006. In addition, voters overwhelmingly approved two bond measures supplying funds for the project. And, approximately 70% of the more than 60,000 people participating in a Los Angeles Times online poll last week voted that "zoos are a healthy environment for elephants and provide a public service."

The activist group wants to send Billy to an exclusive area hundreds of miles from Los Angeles, where individuals pay $200 a person to visit. That would deny working families and the 20,000 schoolchildren a month who now meet Billy any chance of ever seeing an Asian elephant up close again to learn first-hand of the dangers these majestic animals face.

Please visit www.billyshome.com for more information on the Pachyderm Forest.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/slash-jams-billy-elephant/story.aspx?guid={F60A8263-70C4-4AA3-B0D9-9BB9BD5BEA3A}&dist=msr_2

[FunkyMonkey]

SLASH Jams For BILLY The Elephant - Jan. 13, 2009

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=112367

[FunkyMonkey]

http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/smokingsection/2009/01/in-addition-to-once-living.php

Slash, Elephant Lover

January 13, 2009 3:39 PM

In addition to once living in an human zoo (Guns N' Roses hovel on Sunset Blvd.), Slash grew up visiting the Los Angeles Zoo. It's where his obsession with snakes began, and he still takes his children there to admire all the beasts.

Slash took to the airwaves to urge L.A.'s City Council not to cancel funding on the Zoo's $42-million "Pachyderm Forest," which houses Billy, an Asian elephant, who has lived there for twenty years.

In this YouTube clip he makes his heartfelt plea. "It's a beautiful exhibit," he says. "I'm a huge advocate. I want everybody to support this cause."

(We're inclined to support Slash since, after all, he played guitar on Appetite For Destruction. But since we don't know crap about the plight of elephants in captivity, we ought to provide this opposing editorial which ran in the L.A. Times.) 

[FunkyMonkey]

A Note from Slash: 'Help me help the Zoo'

January 15th, 2009

Billy the Elephant Needs a New Home ? at the LA Zoo

You all know that I?m crazy about animals, especially snakes. I?ve been going to the L.A. Zoo since I was a kid, and I can tell you what an awesome place it is.

I told my friends at the zoo that I would help them by spreading the word to my fans about what?s going on there today. If you love animals like I do, please take a few minutes to help me help the zoo. Time is of the essence! A vote is taking place on January 16th that could determine the future of elephants at the zoo!

The election of Barack Obama proved that when we join together to do the right thing, we can make a difference. Yes, we can! Please tell your friends, young and old, to get involved.

The L.A. Zoo is building a new habitat for Asian elephants which will be larger than the one at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and larger than the field at Dodger Stadium. I was at the zoo last week, and I walked through the site of the new habitat. It?s huge. I talked to the keepers, and learned about the excellent care they give Billy and all the other zoo animals.

Some people are trying to stop the elephant habitat from being built, and remove Billy from the zoo. The Los Angeles City Council has turned this issue into a political hot potato, tossing it back and forth to committees and delaying the process. We need to get it back on track! Building this new elephant forest is the right thing for Billy, the right thing for the zoo, and the right thing for L.A. kids who, like me, believe the zoo is an important part of their lives.

You can find lots of information on www.billyshome.com . Follow the links there to send e-mails to the city council. But don?t stop there! Go to your favorite blogs and write about this issue. There?s a Facebook Cause ?Save Billy?s Home? that you can join. Share your thoughts on Myspace, Twitter, YouTube, and your own corner of the Web. Make your voices heard loudly!

[FunkyMonkey]

Slash and Betty White

Rocker Slash and Golden Girl Betty White team against anti-zoo activists! Watch their three-part video appeal:

http://www.billyshome.com/slash-and-betty.html

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I LOVE Betty White!

[Jim Bob]

What a sweet old lady

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

What a sweet old lady

Sometimes.

[FunkyMonkey]

Rock guitarist SLASH joins a large crowd of zoo keepers, staff, building trade unions and community member rally front of LA city hall as they demand LA city officials to move forward the Billy the asian elephant exhibit at the LA zoo. Jan 26,2009. Photo by Gene Blevins/LA DailyNews

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11560075

[lynn1961]

Just an update, BTW, the city council approved going ahead with the Pachyderm Forest. 

[FunkyMonkey]

^^

Cher and Lily Tomlin No Match for Slash in Elephant Dispute

An unlikely list of celebrities spoke out today in support of an elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo named Billy. L.A.?s City Council was faced with the decision to either cut funding from the $42 million ?Pachyderm Forest? exhibit, forcing Billy to move to a more rural sanctuary, or keep the elephant at the zoo. The council has now ruled in favor of keeping the funding for the exhibit, despite pleas from Lily Tomlin, Cher, and Kevin Nealon to let the elephant ?retire? to a sanctuary.

L.A. Times reports that Cher, along with longtime elephant captivity opponent Lily Tomlin, spoke out before the City Council deliberated, saying, ?I?m not a fanatic. I just love animals, like most Americans,? adding that keeping elephants in zoos is comparable to slavery.

Former Guns n? Roses guitarist Slash has been a vocal proponent of the zoo?s ?Pachyderm Forest.? He even released a video plea for Billy to stay in the zoo on YouTube (embedded below). In the video, Slash emphasizes that the exhibit will be one of the ?biggest Asian elephant enclosures in the country? and Billy has caretakers that are ?at his every beck and call.?

http://www.twentyfourbit.com/post/73910456/cher-and-lily-tomlin-no-match-for-slash-in-elephant

[FunkyMonkey]

Help Slash Save The Mute Swans Of Virginia

March 7th,2009

As many of you know, Slash is an animal lover. Although many of the animals he has loved over the years have been reptiles, it doesn't mean he overlooks other members of the animal kingdom. He recently helped to keep Billy the Asian Elephant at home in the L.A. Zoo...and is constantly trying to do his part to help many animals in need. Recently it has come to the attention of Slash and his family that a certain breed of Mute swan on the east coast is being killed off by their city's natural resources department, just because they are mute! It has got to stop! Please read below and sign the petition to stop the killing of innocent animals. It will take you two minutes max, and we can make a difference NOW! Feel free to send this to all your animal loving and just humane people! Click Here To Save the Swans!!

http://www.savemuteswans.org/

From Perla's site...

Ok people, now you know when i do something like this it is important! Please see below and help us stop the killing of mute swans! Personally, I would prefer my swans mute, but thats just me. Because they are mute, they shouldn't be killed. You can all agree. Please read below ans sign the petition. It will take you two minutes max, and we can stop this NOW! Feel free to send this to all your animal loving and just humane people!
-Perla

[The Catcher]

Slash: "ATTENTION! PLEASE GIVE ME ATTENTION!!"

The fucking guy is so used to being a media whore by now that he has lost all possible standards, there's no way out of the role he has gotten himself into as the whole world's jolly ol' guitar playin' public clown.

[Alan]

yes using your public status to bring issues to light is such a bad thing to do. the guy has no standards at all, i mean who would think an animal lover might want to raise awareness to animals being mistreated. god that man has no standards.