For over thirty years, VFTA has been at the forefront of the fight to close the LA Zoo elephant exhibit. We made a film called “Elephants and Man: A Litany of Tragedy,” which told the story of how elephants were brutally forced into captivity and showed the horrific abuse of elephants at the LA Zoo. We made a film on Billy, showing the abuse he lives with every day! We continue to counteract the zoo’s lies. We continue to tell the truth. Cher and Lily joined us, lending their powerful voices to free Billy.
In spite of the fact that the majority of the LA City Council continued to ignore the abuse, VFTA did not! We watched Gita die. We watched Tara die. We watched Jewel die. We watched Shaunzi die. It broke our hearts and strengthened our resolve. We will not give up until this cruel exhibit is closed for good!!
Zoos around the country are sending their elephants to a sanctuary. Why not the LA Zoo?
Zoos around the country are closing their elephant exhibits. Why not the LA Zoo?
NOW is the time for us to make it clear! WE WANT BILLY AND TINA SENT TO A SANCTUARY AND CLOSE THE ELEPHANT EXHIBIT!
NOW is the time! We can do this!! Billy and Tina’s lives depend on US!
EDUCATE your friends, family, neighbors. Send the Billy film to everyone you know!
TELL everyone not to go to the LA Zoo.
ASK them to join us in our fight to send Billy and Tina to sanctuary.
Make a donation right now to fight this cruelty and stop it for good!!
In a powerful new article published by the Daily Journal, legal leaders make a bold statement:
"Freedom is a fundamental right for all sentient beings."
Now, the Los Angeles County Bar Association Animal Law Section has formally joined Voice For The Animals Foundation in demanding that Billy and Tina, the two surviving elephants at the LA Zoo, be released to a sanctuary.
But this movement didn't start here.
It started with Voice For The Animals Foundation and Melya Kaplan.
🔹 We initiated the Leider v. Lewis lawsuit, which laid out in detail the inhumane conditions elephants suffer in captivity. Judge John Segal declared:
“Captivity is a terrible existence for any intelligent, self-aware species... To believe otherwise is delusional.”
🔹 We brought on Cher and Lily Tomlin, who lent their voices to amplify our campaign to #FreeBilly. Cher’s video, seen around the world, helped put Billy's story in the spotlight.
🎥 Watch the video narrated by Cher »
🔹 We produced Elephants + Man: A Litany of Tragedy, the first documentary of its kind to expose the suffering of elephants in U.S. zoos.
📽️ Watch the film »
The legal and public understanding of elephants has changed because of our work.
The article quotes groundbreaking research confirming elephants as intelligent, empathetic, and social beings who mourn, joke, and even call each other by name.
And yet, Billy and Tina still suffer in the LA Zoo, exhibiting chronic signs of captivity-induced psychosis.
While 38 zoos in North America have closed their elephant exhibits and sent animals to sanctuaries, the LA Zoo refuses.
But the tide is turning. In October 2024, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis introduced the CHER Act, banning elephant captivity.
Now, legal professionals and judges are contacting us, inspired by this new article.
💬 “Billy and Tina deserve freedom in the name of liberty for all.”
— Daily Journal, March 2025
We will not stop until they are free.