The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has decided not to impose penalties upon the owners of Hope Elephants Sanctuary, whose co-founder veterinarian Dr. Jim Laurita died after falling in an elephant cage and being stepped on in the chest by one of the elephants he was taking care of.
Instead, federal regulators opted to remind Hope Elephants to ensure that all workers are equipped with the appropriate protection gear when working in contact with elephants. The OSHA also recommended the sanctuary to develop a plan to make sure caretakers are not in the same unrestricted space with the elephants, except in rare cases.
Last year, Dr. Laurita was discovered dead inside one of the elephant cages by another caretaker in September. Investigation by the Knox County Sheriff's office concluded that he fell to the ground and was accidentally stepped on by an elephant. The State Medical Examiner ruled Dr. Laurita's death was due to multiple chest fractures and asphyxiation. Local authorities say his death was accidental.
Following the death of one of the elephant refuge's founders, the OSHA released a hazard alert for all businesses working with large animals and reminded them that Dr. Laurita's death should serve as a safety warning for all them to comply with the standard set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to provide barriers and restraints to increase safety for employees.
OSHA director for Maine Maryann Medeiros said the incident is "a tragic example of what can happen when employers fail to follow industry requirements and to take necessary steps to protect employees."
"The care and management of elephants and other wild animals can be a rewarding profession but not if it comes at the cost of a worker's life," Medeiros said.
The OSHA also requested Hope Elephants to notify the agency about its actions to improve safety for workers. However, Hope Elephants co-founder Tom Laurita, brother of Dr. Laurita, said the sanctuary currently has no plans to re-open "in its current incarnation," and that Opal and Rosie, the two retired circus elephants living in Hope, have returned to their former home at the Endangered Ark Foundation in Hugo, Oklahoma.
"We are actively seeking a path forward to continue the work that Jim started," Laurita said on the Hope Elephants Facebook page in December. "This process is going to take time and I do not know whether we will be successful. At this stage I can say that there are active efforts underway to reimagine Hope Elephants and that we will communicate as soon as we have information to share."
"Jim's 'girls' are doing very well in Hugo," he added.
