Cher is keenly focusing on saving animals, one elephant at a time

Los Angeles, Aug 19 (IANS) Cher, who is often regarded as the 'Goddess of Pop' due to her pioneering many notable changes in the pop scene is also an avid animal lover, and is focusing greatly on saving animal lives through her charity fund 'Free the Wild'. Her current priority is the elephant Billy, who has been suffering greatly in LA Zoo.

Back in 2020, during the peak of Covid-19, the singer travelled all the way to Pakistan to save Kaavan, often called 'the loneliest elephant in the world'. After a very long campaign, Kaavan was finally released from the Islamabad based zoo, and shifted to Cambodia where he has been given much better treatment.

But Billy has been facing worse treatment than Kaavan as he has been bound in the LA Zoo in miserable conditions, for nearly the entirety of his 38-year life so far.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cher talking about the main concern of 'Free the Wild' said: "My main concern is Billy. It took me five years in court to get Kaavan out of that zoo, but Islamabad finally understood exactly why it needed to be done."

"Now we're working with one of, if not the most, developed nations on the planet, the United States, and our own people don't seem to understand or appreciate the effects of zoo life on these creatures."

Responding to the question, what she wants to do to save Billy, Cher said: "For people to bombard the City Council by reaching out to them with their concern for Billy and the need to get him into a sanctuary as soon as possible."

"The citizens of L.A. essentially own the zoo but don't seem to have the authority to influence the decision-making.… And they've had (more than a dozen) elephants die since 1968. They don't give you information about some of the deaths. You can't get records."

Talking about when she first formed her strong bond with animals, she said: "My sister and I had a dog when we were little named Pansy. But my biggest connection with an animal was with my cat. We found him under a truck when we were on the road in Detroit. He was very sick and so small."

"You could hold him in your hand. I’m not exaggerating, even though I’m prone to. So he was in the doctor’s while we played Detroit for two days. Then, I took him home, and I had him for 16 years. He was like a dog. His name was Mr Big."

Cher went on to state that apart from Billy who is her priority right now, her other targets are "Lucy, an elephant in Canada, and Lolita, a whale in Florida. They’re in horrible places right now."