Hope veterinarian given OK to keep elephant in yard

Posted July 28, 2011, at 3:51 p.m.
Last modified July 28, 2011, at 6 p.m.
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Rosie the elephant.
Photo courtesy of Jim Laurita
Rosie the elephant.

HOPE, Maine — The man who wants to bring an elephant to Maine has approval from his town.

Jim Laurita, a veterinarian in Hope, is working to bring Rosie the elephant from her home at an Oklahoma circus she shares with her 27 herd members to a barn he plans to build in his yard.

The Carson and Barnes Circus animal has arthritis and Laurita would like to try new types of therapy on her legs.

According to Hope town administrator and code enforcement officer Jon Duke, the planning board approved Laurita’s plan this week. Laurita now needs a building permit, a state license and a federal license to bring Rosie to Maine.

Duke said the town found that allowing an elephant to live in Hope “wouldn’t be too onerous” on town resources.

Laurita and the 42-year-old elephant are old friends.

In the late 1970s, Laurita dropped out of college to join Carson and Barnes C ircus, where Rosie lives. He worked as a juggler, a ring announcer and eventually an elephant trainer for the circus on and off for several years before leaving to work with elephants at zoos around the country. By the late 1980s, he returned to school and became a veterinarian before heading to Maine.

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  • 525_44

    Wild animals do not belong in a circus. In fact no animals should be in a circus where they are often mistreated and abused in order to please the audience.

    Lions, tigers and bears belong in the wild…

  • 525_44

    Wild animals do not belong in a circus. In fact no animals should be in a circus where they are often mistreated and abused in order to please the audience.

    Lions, tigers and bears belong in the wild…

  • 525_44

    Wild animals do not belong in a circus. In fact no animals should be in a circus where they are often mistreated and abused in order to please the audience.

    Lions, tigers and bears belong in the wild…

  • 525_44

    Wild animals do not belong in a circus. In fact no animals should be in a circus where they are often mistreated and abused in order to please the audience.

    Lions, tigers and bears belong in the wild…

  • Anonymous

    I love elephants! This makes my heart happy !! hm….think he’ll allow visitors? lol

  • Anonymous

    I love elephants! This makes my heart happy !! hm….think he’ll allow visitors? lol

  • Anonymous

    I love elephants! This makes my heart happy !! hm….think he’ll allow visitors? lol

  • Anonymous

    I love elephants! This makes my heart happy !! hm….think he’ll allow visitors? lol

  • Anonymous

    Elephants need elephants. They are herd social animals. She will grieve for her herd. One man cannot be a replacement for her herdmates.

  • Anonymous

    Elephants need elephants. They are herd social animals. She will grieve for her herd. One man cannot be a replacement for her herdmates.

  • Anonymous

    Elephants need elephants. They are herd social animals. She will grieve for her herd. One man cannot be a replacement for her herdmates.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, an elephant should love Maine about mid January- you know with elephants being so used to all the snow they get in AFRICA.

  • http://twitter.com/clm1950 clm1950

    Hopefully, sanity will prevail at the state and federal level and he won’t get the permits. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Wookie-Pie/1801487975 Wookie Pie

    the circus elephant has probably been raised from infancy by people.  maybe it can get work in dirty movies.

  • Anonymous

    I wish Jim and Rosie all the very best!

  • Anonymous

    I wish Jim and Rosie all the very best!

  • Anonymous

    I wish Jim and Rosie all the very best!

  • Anonymous

    I wish Jim and Rosie all the very best!

  • Anonymous

    I wish Jim and Rosie all the very best!

  • Anonymous

    Got to be kidding me.

  • Anonymous

    so do something about it

  • Anonymous

    so do something about it

  • Anonymous

    so do something about it

  • Anonymous

    This is cool.
    Welcome elephant to Hope, Maine!

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know, maybe he can get another elephant for this elephant as a companion.
    I would rather see the elephant on a farm in Maine (with a veterinarian who I assume loves animals) than mistreated in a circus environment!

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know, maybe he can get another elephant for this elephant as a companion.
    I would rather see the elephant on a farm in Maine (with a veterinarian who I assume loves animals) than mistreated in a circus environment!

  • Anonymous

    As long as he doesn’t keep the elephant in th living room and pretend it’s not there, I guess things will work out for him.

  • Anonymous

    As long as he doesn’t keep the elephant in th living room and pretend it’s not there, I guess things will work out for him.

  • Anonymous

    Shhhhh……he’ll just go out and rescue the rest of the herd.

  • Anonymous

    Shhhhh……he’ll just go out and rescue the rest of the herd.

  • Anonymous

    Shhhhh……he’ll just go out and rescue the rest of the herd.

  • Anonymous

    Shhhhh……he’ll just go out and rescue the rest of the herd.

  • Anonymous

    Shhhhh……he’ll just go out and rescue the rest of the herd.

  • Anonymous

    Shhhhh……he’ll just go out and rescue the rest of the herd.

  • Anonymous

    Maybe she can replace the snow plow by trampelling her way down the driveway. If it works, I might get an elephant.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1186837638 Rowan Morrison

    This must be a joke.  If for some reason it isn’t, I hope this veterinarian comes to his senses and allows Rosie to live out her life at a sanctuary, either PAWS in California or The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1038614963 Patty Shenker

    This is another outrageous idea. Rosie needs to be in warm weather and with other elephants. That’s the very least we can do for these poor pachyderms who are taken from their families, chained, beaten & confined to small, unhealthy areas. Rosie has arthritis because zoos and circuses NEVER provide enough space for the miles of walking they naturally do in the wild. If this vet wants to help her, go visit her but do not be so selfish, so idiotic as to move her there to make this vet feel like he’s doing something good. He could also work to ban elephants in zoos & circuses but I doubt he cares that much!

  • Anonymous

    The circus is no place for an elephant. Therefore a circus elephant trainer who beat, bullhooked and lectrocuted elephants should NOT be able to have an elephant for a pet.  She should instead be sent to a sanctuary. The veterinarian lacks the experience to handle an elephant.  How many acres does this man have?  Elephant sanctuaries have more than 1 acre.

  • http://www.facebook.com/galen.hazelhofer Galen Hazelhofer

    I am very concerned about this plan. First, the climate in Maine is NOT good for elephants. Secondly, a yard is probably not enough room for an elephant to roam for physical and mental health, thirdly, she will have no companions, and last but not least, this gentleman was an elephant trainer with the circus which raises BIG red flags for me. I question how she will be treated. This is just a bad idea all around. Send Rosie to one of the elephant sanctuaries, PAWS in CA, or TES in TN. Please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/galen.hazelhofer Galen Hazelhofer

    I am very concerned about this plan. First, the climate in Maine is NOT good for elephants. Secondly, a yard is probably not enough room for an elephant to roam for physical and mental health, thirdly, she will have no companions, and last but not least, this gentleman was an elephant trainer with the circus which raises BIG red flags for me. I question how she will be treated. This is just a bad idea all around. Send Rosie to one of the elephant sanctuaries, PAWS in CA, or TES in TN. Please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/galen.hazelhofer Galen Hazelhofer

    I am very concerned about this plan. First, the climate in Maine is NOT good for elephants. Secondly, a yard is probably not enough room for an elephant to roam for physical and mental health, thirdly, she will have no companions, and last but not least, this gentleman was an elephant trainer with the circus which raises BIG red flags for me. I question how she will be treated. This is just a bad idea all around. Send Rosie to one of the elephant sanctuaries, PAWS in CA, or TES in TN. Please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/galen.hazelhofer Galen Hazelhofer

    I am very concerned about this plan. First, the climate in Maine is NOT good for elephants. Secondly, a yard is probably not enough room for an elephant to roam for physical and mental health, thirdly, she will have no companions, and last but not least, this gentleman was an elephant trainer with the circus which raises BIG red flags for me. I question how she will be treated. This is just a bad idea all around. Send Rosie to one of the elephant sanctuaries, PAWS in CA, or TES in TN. Please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/galen.hazelhofer Galen Hazelhofer

    I am very concerned about this plan. First, the climate in Maine is NOT good for elephants. Secondly, a yard is probably not enough room for an elephant to roam for physical and mental health, thirdly, she will have no companions, and last but not least, this gentleman was an elephant trainer with the circus which raises BIG red flags for me. I question how she will be treated. This is just a bad idea all around. Send Rosie to one of the elephant sanctuaries, PAWS in CA, or TES in TN. Please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/galen.hazelhofer Galen Hazelhofer

    I am very concerned about this plan. First, the climate in Maine is NOT good for elephants. Secondly, a yard is probably not enough room for an elephant to roam for physical and mental health, thirdly, she will have no companions, and last but not least, this gentleman was an elephant trainer with the circus which raises BIG red flags for me. I question how she will be treated. This is just a bad idea all around. Send Rosie to one of the elephant sanctuaries, PAWS in CA, or TES in TN. Please.

  • Anonymous

    I had no idea there were so many elephant experts in the BDN comments section. 

  • Anonymous

    I had no idea there were so many elephant experts in the BDN comments section. 

  • Anonymous

    I had no idea there were so many elephant experts in the BDN comments section. 

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Rosie looks like an Asian elephant to me, though I admit I’m not a zoologist.  They live mostly in jungles, but also have been known to frequent the highlands (such as the Himalayan foothills), where it can get pretty cold.

    I get a kick out of the various armchair wildlife experts here who figure they know elephant ecology better than a veterinarian who’s been working with them since the ’80s.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Rosie looks like an Asian elephant to me, though I admit I’m not a zoologist.  They live mostly in jungles, but also have been known to frequent the highlands (such as the Himalayan foothills), where it can get pretty cold.

    I get a kick out of the various armchair wildlife experts here who figure they know elephant ecology better than a veterinarian who’s been working with them since the ’80s.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Rosie looks like an Asian elephant to me, though I admit I’m not a zoologist.  They live mostly in jungles, but also have been known to frequent the highlands (such as the Himalayan foothills), where it can get pretty cold.

    I get a kick out of the various armchair wildlife experts here who figure they know elephant ecology better than a veterinarian who’s been working with them since the ’80s.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Rosie looks like an Asian elephant to me, though I admit I’m not a zoologist.  They live mostly in jungles, but also have been known to frequent the highlands (such as the Himalayan foothills), where it can get pretty cold.

    I get a kick out of the various armchair wildlife experts here who figure they know elephant ecology better than a veterinarian who’s been working with them since the ’80s.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Rosie looks like an Asian elephant to me, though I admit I’m not a zoologist.  They live mostly in jungles, but also have been known to frequent the highlands (such as the Himalayan foothills), where it can get pretty cold.

    I get a kick out of the various armchair wildlife experts here who figure they know elephant ecology better than a veterinarian who’s been working with them since the ’80s.

  • Anonymous

    last thing hope needs is another republican.

  • Larry T. Doughty

    Thoughtful gesture Dr. Laurita. Hopefully, you’ll be able to help Rosie with her arthritis. You are fortunate, to have her come to your home. And yes, you will keep her warm and comfortable. Much more than presently. Perhaps Rosie will enjoy the company of your own dogs. Good luck, and thanx.

  • Anonymous

    google elephants and snow.

  • Anonymous

    google elephants and snow.

  • Anonymous

    google elephants and snow.

  • Anonymous

    google elephants and snow.

  • Anonymous

    Are you personally familiar with this individual and his qualifications, or is this all conjecture on your part?

  • Anonymous

    Are you personally familiar with this individual and his qualifications, or is this all conjecture on your part?

  • Anonymous

    Are you personally familiar with this individual and his qualifications, or is this all conjecture on your part?

  • Anonymous

    Science and common sense tells us that keeping a highly intelligent
    and highly social elephant in such a small outdoor small space, in a cold
    climate requiring prolonged lock-up in a tiny barn stall, and without the
    company of her own kind is inhumane.  Plain
    wrong.

  • Anonymous

    Science and common sense tells us that keeping a highly intelligent
    and highly social elephant in such a small outdoor small space, in a cold
    climate requiring prolonged lock-up in a tiny barn stall, and without the
    company of her own kind is inhumane.  Plain
    wrong.

  • Anonymous

    Science and common sense tells us that keeping a highly intelligent
    and highly social elephant in such a small outdoor small space, in a cold
    climate requiring prolonged lock-up in a tiny barn stall, and without the
    company of her own kind is inhumane.  Plain
    wrong.

  • Anonymous

    Science and common sense tells us that keeping a highly intelligent
    and highly social elephant in such a small outdoor small space, in a cold
    climate requiring prolonged lock-up in a tiny barn stall, and without the
    company of her own kind is inhumane.  Plain
    wrong.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Catherine-Eastern/100000606894584 Catherine Eastern

    She is an ASIAN elephant…. not from Africa.

  • Anonymous

    Everthing I’ve ever learned about elephants is contrary to what this veterinarian wants for Rosie.  The BDN article says that Rosie and the vet are old friends.  With friends like the vet, Rosie won’t need any enemies.  I find it hard to believe that if the people of the Town of Hope had done their homework, they would have given this guy their blessings to bring Rosie to Maine.  Brace yourself, sweet Rosie.  I fear the vet will have you jump out of the fire and into the frying pan, all the while claiming he wants to help you.

  • Anonymous

    You don’t have to be an expert on elephants to know their basic needs.  All you need is to know how to read, or if you’ve ever watched documentaries about elephants, you will soon learn why so many people are concerned about what’s best for Rosie.

  • Anonymous

    This guy is a veterinarian, has worked with elephants since the 1970′s, traveled to India to study elephant management, etc. 

    It is nice that people are concerned but perhaps there is more to this situation than can be judged by someone who has just watched a documentary or read a book.

  • Anonymous

    This guy is a veterinarian, has worked with elephants since the 1970′s, traveled to India to study elephant management, etc. 

    It is nice that people are concerned but perhaps there is more to this situation than can be judged by someone who has just watched a documentary or read a book.

  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t referring to complex studies of elephants.  That’s why I referred to their “basic” needs . . .  a warm enviorment in which to live and companionship with their own kind.  The vet is not providing Rosie with either of those needs.  Maybe he thinks his therapy will make up for that.  For Rosie’s sake, I sure hope so.

  • Anonymous

    Maybe they are concerned Republicans. If  he was rescuing donkeys we would be hearing from the Democratic crowd.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    It is commendable that the vet wants to help Rosie. Hope it all works out and that Rosie and the vet are both happy with their new situation.

  • Anonymous

    well lets hope some out of stater hunter  don’t mistake her for a deer !  8>)

  • Anonymous

    well lets hope some out of stater hunter  don’t mistake her for a deer !  8>)

  • Anonymous

    well lets hope some out of stater hunter  don’t mistake her for a deer !  8>)

  • Anonymous

    well lets hope some out of stater hunter  don’t mistake her for a deer !  8>)

  • 525_44

    Wow what an answer.
    I stated my opinion. I think the vet in Hope will take care of her very well.

  • 525_44

    Wow what an answer.
    I stated my opinion. I think the vet in Hope will take care of her very well.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MWFPOA5XX4TUQDWSFMPMIAGTWY Carole

    Not that it matters I am no expert but  I do have graduate school credits in animal ethics and care. From what I have read the climate in Maine is bad for elephants. I agree that Rosie needs to be with other elephants and will need more than one acre of land to heal and thrive. More – items like special flooring and a pool with water or mud that she can go into year round are must.

    It would seem like the good vet could try out the new treatments he has in mind at a places like the ones stated that already have and are working to improve the life of elephants.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MWFPOA5XX4TUQDWSFMPMIAGTWY Carole

    Not that it matters I am no expert but  I do have graduate school credits in animal ethics and care. From what I have read the climate in Maine is bad for elephants. I agree that Rosie needs to be with other elephants and will need more than one acre of land to heal and thrive. More – items like special flooring and a pool with water or mud that she can go into year round are must.

    It would seem like the good vet could try out the new treatments he has in mind at a places like the ones stated that already have and are working to improve the life of elephants.

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