We wish to correct the impression portrayed by some of the media of the care which Anne received and to publicly set the record straight following some quite misleading press reporting.
We believe that we have always observed high standards of animal welfare, consulting specialist vets where necessary and, when business times have been difficult, always ensuring that, as a priority, we employed a sufficient number of staff to care for all our animals. Our failure is not that we haven't fulfilled our responsibility for the care of our animals but that we now find that we have employed someone who had given every indication of being a hard-working and trustworthy employee but, clearly, our trust was misplaced.
The groom responsible for the incident had been in our employment since April 2010, working under Bobby's supervision and not giving us any cause for concern. The film sequence shows him striking the elephant with, what is, a plastic pitchfork but the sound to the film appears to have been added subsequently and exaggerates the force being used and the impact of the strike. There are two worrying aspects to the film footage. The first is that it shows Anne behaving quite naturally and placidly, standing in her normal position and, having watched the film repeatedly, there are no apparent reasons for him to suddenly strike her. The second concerns the hoodie, which the film shows to be pulled over his face and later the cap pulled down over his head. None of the Roberts' family can recall this man ever having worn a hoodie or a cap during the whole time he worked for us and we can't understand why he should need to wear them on the days when he committed such unacceptable and barbaric actions. This person disappeared as soon as we were informed of the press report and before its publication and, seemingly, he was aware of what was happening. We have given the police all the information which we hold on this man and fully support any attempts to trace him in the hope that it will lead to a prosecution.
Anne has been with this family for a long time and is now an elderly lady. She is probably at an age when she would riot have survived in the wild. Just over two years ago we took the heart-breaking decision that although she was very much a family pet it was time for her to pass to a suitable home for her retirement. At that time we made several enquiries with welfare organisations and animal parks in the hope that they could accommodate her in this country and in an environment of which we approved. There were no offers of accommodation for her in this country and we knew that she could not sustain a long journey by sea to any sanctuaries abroad. She had already been retired from performing and. because of her age and the arthritic condition in her back legs, we took the decision to leave her comfortably at home in our winter quarters until the weather was warmer and to see if she would settle being left behind and having only regular, but not daily, contact with Bobby. We have never given up our search for accommodation for her but left her at home, as a short term measure, to see how she would cope.
When the press reports arose we then received offers of accommodation for Anne, some of which were not practicable and none of which were we in any way forced to accept. She would remain with us until we were offered accommodation that was acceptable to us and would allow Bobby to maintain regular personal contact with her. We would never contemplate selling Anne, as has been suggested, and certainly would not accept anything which represented any payment for her. Even in her retirement, Anne remains a much-loved and well-cared for member of our family. Happily, we received an offer of a home for her from Longleat Safari Park and, after much consideration, and a great deal of sadness, we decided that Anne could retire to Longleat, secure in the knowledge that she would be well looked after in her retirement and, importantly, we could maintain our personal contact with her.
Last Sunday morning we accompanied Anne to her new home and stayed with her until yesterday evening so that she could be settled in her new environment and to be sure that her new keeper was familiar with her normal routine, particularly those little things in her life which she was used to and enjoyed so much. Sadly, we left Anne last night, feeling that we had taken the right decision for her and happy that she will be looked after with the same affection and care that she has been used to. We will miss her enormously and look forward to seeing her as often as possible. We have not in any way discarded Anne and she will remain part of our life.
We would like to thank not only our friends who have been so supportive, but particularly all those members of the public who have offered their support, appreciating the situation in which we have found ourselves, many of whom have criticised the way the matter has been dealt with by the press. We have made it clear that we do not condone any mistreatment of animals and will not tolerate it in our circus. We acknowledge that we have a responsibility and deeply regret what now appears to be an error of judgment in choosing a particular member of staff. We believe that our audiences and also our friends will continue to support us in the knowledge of how much we care for our animals. We will shortly be opening a new page on our website to keep you updated with information on Anne in her retirement at her new home at Longleat, where she will continue to receive our love and support.
