For Immediate Release – Titusville, Florida, January 22, 2018 – A Lawrence County, Alabama judge has ruled today that Nosey the elephant will be able to stay in true sanctuary at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. A case against Nosey’s notorious owners, the Liebel Family Circus, was heard on December 15, 2017, and Judge Angela Terry has ruled that Nosey will remain at the Sanctuary PERMANENTLY!
SAVE NOSEY NOW has worked since 2014 for this day, chasing this small family circus from town to town all over the country, never giving up on Nosey for one day. We pushed hard at the USDA who was charged with upholding the Animal Welfare Act by promoting call-in actions, tweetstorms, letter writing campaigns, and a formal march on their Washington, DC site in June 2015. We also dug deep into the patterns of abuse by this small family circus and pushed hard against the Florida Wildlife Commission who repeatedly rubber stamped the permit for this abusive family to keep and use Nosey.
Our work involved research into many state and city animal laws as Nosey was hauled around the country from state to state, city to city, day to day, month to month, year to year. We were successful in shutting down venues in many locations as the entities were educated about the true life of Nosey the elephant.
We have run into many obstacles along the way to Nosey’s freedom, but the powers aligned in the little town of Moulton, Alabama on a fateful day in November, 2017 where Nosey was spotted by some very brave local women. These women saw a wrong and decided to fix it.
Googling Nosey, Save Nosey Now was found, and we were able to provide assistance to the local officials throughout the proceedings with documents, pictures and videos to strengthen the case against the circus owners. Contacting the law enforcement division of PETA, more resources were on the way to Alabama. Save Nosey Now was pleased to be a part of the bench trial in Lawrence County, Alabama, and to provide assistance wherever needed.
We thank the good people of Alabama for their perseverance and follow through. We thank our supporters who have always believed that this day would come for Nosey, and we thank all the other organizations who worked hard for Nosey for many years.
For Media Contacts:
Saron Geddy, Media Relations Contact, sarongeddy@gmail.com
Barbara Trask Lovett, President, info@savenoseynow.org
phone: (603) 742-0848
About Save Nosey Now
This effort to help Nosey and other captive elephants had a simple beginning. In 2014, two Nosey advocates began a conversation that led to a Call-In Action for Nosey event on Facebook. They asked fellow advocates to contact the USDA and urge them to refuse licensure for Nosey’s keeper. In spite of many calls, faxes, emails, and letters, the license was granted, and so it was decided to continue the work by starting a Facebook Group.
Save Nosey NOW! was born. Since 2014, the Save Nosey NOW! Facebook group has grown to more than 3300 members. In June 2015, we organized Save Nosey NOW! We Are Her Voice, a peaceful demonstration at the USDA in Washington, DC. People from all over the country gathered to protest renewal of Liebel’s license and to urge the USDA to confiscate Nosey.
In January 2016, we hosted the successful Nosey Summit, which brought together major advocacy organizations, including PETA, Animal Defenders International, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Compassion Works International, and In Defense of Animals, to share and strategies actions for Nosey. In July, 2016 we launched Nosey’s Ad Campaign to tell her story in local newspapers where she is performing. Working with other anti-circus advocates, we were successful in encouraging venues to cancel Nosey’s appearances. Once Nosey was seized in Alabama in November, 2017, we decided to expand our impact on the lives of captive elephants, so Save Nosey Now, Inc. was registered as a nonprofit corporation in Florida in 2019.
