Animal advocates clamoring for the release of the Bronx Zoo’s Happy the Elephant from its enclosure had been dealt a major legal defeat from the state’s highest-ranking court, the New York Court of Appeals last summer. The matter of Happy — who along with Patty is one of two Bronx Zoo elephants— according to concurring judges, was one for the state Legislature.
But now, the New York City Council is looking to get involved and could set a precedent — with the nation’s first-ever elephant captivity ban — if newly-proposed legislation from Brooklyn’s Progressive Councilmember Shahana Hanif is successful.
