Here's the letter I sent Governor Scott:
Dear Governor Scott,
As many can agree, elephants are incredibly intelligent and emotionally eloquent. Sadly, elephants are subject to exploitation in many forms globally. With this information on their mental capacities, it would suffice to say that of course they’re capable of painting pictures. Artistic elephants are a major tourist attraction in Thailand, as you may have seen on the Internet, or perhaps you have seen some in person. They typically paint things like flowers or other stencilled elephants. Although this seems cute and heart-warming to view, these elephants are trained for months in operant conditioning routines that force them to undergo months of punishment for not understanding what to do. They (the elephants) never actually learn to paint; the “guide” attaches a hook behind their ear that guides the paintbrushes. This piercing-like steering wheel is quite painful for the elephants as well as traumatising. These atrocious acts against elephants in Thailand are already sickening, but at least they’re alive while doing so. Ninety-six elephants are slaughtered for their ivory tusks on a daily basis. As DoSomething.org has informed me, New York and New Jersey have passed state moratoria legislation on the ban of ivory sales in order to prevent the extinction of elephants. I urge you to keep this in consideration whenever asked to take a stand on the issue.
Thank you for your time,
Elisabeth A. Palacios
