In Defense of Animals was one of the general sponsors at last week’s International Captive Wildlife Conference in San Andreas, California presented by the Performing Animal Welfare Sanctuary (PAWS). Many important issues were discussed concerning captive bears, big cats, and elephants.

A lot of ground was covered with a great diversity of speakers. There was talk of the great strides that are being made for animals worldwide with bans on exotic animal performances, and bullhook bans coming into place in US cities, as well as the states of Rhode Island and California. With more animals being rescued from deplorable situations, the need for accredited sanctuaries is growing. South America just opened its first sanctuary for elephants, and we heard a ground-breaking report from its American co-founder Scott Blais.

Bob Jacobs, Ph.D. was one of the speakers. He has been studying the neurocognitive abilities of exotic mammalian species such as elephants (post mortem only), and mapping through nerve cells in the brain, the complex intelligence that elephants have been expressing for millennia. We are finally starting to catch up!

Jackie Gai, DVM, is Director of Veterinary Services at PAWS and shared how extensive the damage of captivity is for elephants, and how their stoic nature often conceals the degree of pain they are in, making disease conditions that much worse once diagnosed. Healing-both physically, and psychologically, is a long road for the elephants that come to PAWS from circus abuse and other traumatic captive situations.

There is much work to be done, but the tide is turning for animals in many ways. All of us who care, and who are taking action, in small and large ways, are making a difference; from scientists, to legal defense teams, to rescue operations, educators, activists, and advocates across the world. The more we can work together and unite in our efforts, the more we can accomplish for animals everywhere.