I visited the Topeka, KS, Zoo today to check on the elephants, Tembo and Sunda. As many of you know, I am involved in the Animal Outreach of Kansas campaign to liberate them and send them to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. I couldn't see the elephants as they were in their small barn due to the scorching heat we are experiencing here.

However, I did see some other animals. Tiffany is a gorilla who has lived alone there for several years. She sat looking back at onlookers with a sad and helpless gaze. A coyote also lives there completely alone. She lay on her side panting in the heat. The black bear paced endlessly back and forth on a path along a fence, seeming to place her feet in almost the same spots each time-a sure sign of extreme emotional distress.

I saw many other animals in small cages living alone with nothing to do and no one to befriend. Others, though they had companions, still suffer from the oppressive domination of human interference in their lives. Zoos demonstrate so well the human tendency to believe we have the right to dominate and exploit non-human animals. There is, no doubt, an unconscious pleasure in being able to observe an animal who could easily attack, kill and eat us, and know that they are under absolute control.

It is only when one awakens to the revolutionary realization that these majestic, beautiful beings are our kin, that we see the real tragedy before our eyes. This week, I would like to suggest that we hold in our hearts abundant and far-reaching love for all animals incarcerated in zoos. And that we carry with us a vision of an awakened world in which zoos are no more. As always, thank you for uplifting humanity and lighting the way to a nonviolent, loving world.