PETA vs. Elephant Car Wash - But that sounds cool right?

It was actually pretty cool. When I came to visit Larry in July, we went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Or. Call it a tourist attraction, but it was pretty cool. We drove through it, taking pictures from the car window. There were giraffes, deer, bears, monkeys, camels, all kinds of animals roaming around right around your car. It was a pretty cool experience. We had the option to get our car washed by elephants for $20 but we said nah, and did the tour. As we were driving, we saw the elephants washing the cars. It was pretty cool. Two elephants stood side by side with sponges and then rinsing with water from their long snouts. They pretty much only did one side from where we saw but their snouts went right up against the window, spewing water and squeezing the sponge. If you were sitting on the passenger side or in the back seat, kid or adult, it would've been a cool sight. We took some pictures and carried on.

This morning Larry and I were having coffee, checking out emails and such and I came across this story. PETA is throwing a fit. Check it out. What's your opinion? If they are surly using these hooks for an inhumane purpose (which the Safari claims they aren't), then I agree but I don't believe so. I think the elephants are having fun. When we were taking pictures, they didn't seem mad or upset. It was a routine for them and it seemed as if they were having fun with the water.
Either way, pretty funny PETA is serious about this.

Here's the news story:

Oregon elephants shouldn't wash cars, PETA says

11:32 AM PDT on Thursday, October 29, 2009

Associated Press

WINSTON, Ore. (AP) -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants an Oregon wildlife park to stop using elephants to wash cars.

An Oct. 22 letter from the animal rights group to Wildlife Safari calls the elephant car wash a "gimmick that does nothing to foster respect for endangered species." The letter urges executive director Dan Van Slyke to discontinue the spring-and-summer attraction.

Lisa Wathne, a Seattle-based PETA spokeswoman and the letter's author, said the practice is potentially dangerous to the public, and the elephants are forced to wash cars under the threat of pain inflicted by trainers. The organization is particularly concerned with the use of a traditional elephant training tool known as an ankus or bullhook. The device is a rod with a metal hook and spike at one end.

"It's the threat of the pain that those bullhooks will cause that makes the elephants do what they're told," Wathne said.

Wildlife Safari officials contend the attraction is safe, and the elephants are trained using positive reinforcement. In an interview with the News-Review newspaper of Roseburg, general curator Dan Brands said the bullhooks are used as an extension of the trainers' arms.

"The terminology we use is 'guides,"' Brands said. "They are not used in an abusive way."

Brand said trainers modified a behavior the elephants naturally do by offering them encouragement and treats such as carrots or yams.

"These are 2-ton animals," he said. "You can't force them to do anything they wouldn't want to do."

The park has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which requires zoos to find a way to intellectually stimulate their elephants.

Association spokesman Steve Feldman acknowledged the elephant car wash is an unorthodox interpretation of the requirement, but didn't see the activity as detrimental.