Early life
Rose-Tu was born on August 31, 1994 [3] [4] [5] to mother Me-Tu, the half-sister of Packy. [6] Rose-Tu was one of twins, but her unnamed sibling died within an hour of its birth. [7] Rose-Tu was approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) tall [8] and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg) at birth, forty pounds lower than average. [7] Her name was taken partially from her mother, partially in homage to Portland's nickname "City of Roses", and partially after her grandmother, a wild-born [9] elephant whose name was Rosy. Other shortlisted names included Asha, Jordan, Koofed, and Song. [8]
Rose-Tu was raised with the other female elephants at Oregon Zoo, particularly her mother, Sung Surin, and Belle, the mother of Packy, In 1996, Me-Tu was euthanized due to foot rot. [6] [10] Belle was euthanized for similar reasons the following year. Rose-Tu was allowed to visit her body shortly after the procedure. [10]
In January 2000, the Oregon Zoo revised its policies on the use of bullhooks to mandate that the keepers use the hooks only with one hand. This decision came after a member of the public lodged a complaint with the Multnomah County Animal Control, alleging that they had seen a keeper hit Rose-Tu with a hook. The zoo and keeper were cleared of all charges, and the zoo's animal collection manager said that he supported the keeper's handling of the elephants. [11]
April 2000 abuse incident
On April 17, 2000, when Rose-Tu was five years old, Rose-Tu's keeper ordered her to move to a different part of the enclosure. When she did not, the keeper struck Rose-Tu repeatedly with a bullhook, [12] which was also inserted into Rose-Tu's anus. [13] [12] [14] [15] [16] An examination by another keeper after the incident identified 176 lacerations and puncture wounds on Rose-Tu, [14] [12] but an exam by a veterinarian was not performed until April 19. [14] The keeper was fired by the zoo, [12] which he appealed. In a discipline hearing, he confirmed that he had used his own bullhook, not one provided by the zoo. [14]
Initially, the district attorney declined to charge the keeper because Rose-Tu, being an elephant, could not testify as to whether she felt pain during the incident. [14] [12] The prosecutors eventually decided to use expert witnesses to testify that Rose-Tu had experienced pain, and the keeper pled no-contest to charges of second-degree animal abuse. [15] [12] In response to the initial decisions by the prosecutor, the Animal Legal Defense Fund wrote a bill, sponsored by state senator Ryan Deckert, which proposed lowering the standard of evidence needed to prove animal abuse in cases concerning domestic animals, but not with those related to "livestock, animal husbandry, or veterinary practices". [17] The proposed law, Oregon Senate Bill 230, passed in 2001. It redefined the law in Oregon to classify evidence of physical trauma, not evidence of pain, as sufficient to prove animal abuse. Previously, the law had mandated prosecutors show either "impairment of the physical condition or substantial pain". [16] The bill also made aggravated animal neglect in the first degree and prohibited the ownership of pets for five years after certain animal-abuse convictions. [18]
As a result of the incident, the Oregon Zoo was fined $10,000 by the U.S Department of Agriculture, [19] [20] $5,000 of which was to be put aside to hire experts to review the zoo's elephant program. They also had to agree not to re-hire the former zookeeper. [21] Additionally, the use of bullhooks and other physical hands-on forms of elephants management was revisited by the industry in light of the widespread negative attention the incident experienced. [20]
