Kim Stallwood is an author, scholar and longtime leader in the animal rights movement. He is also founder and curator of a wealth of historical documents from the animal rights movement, now hosted at the British Library.
Most recently, Kim has been writing about the life and tragic death of Topsy the Elephant. Here’s what he had to share about his work.
Topsy the Elephant lived a short and tragic life. What inspired you to write about her?
I saw ‘Electrocuting an Elephant’ when it was included in two documentaries on animal rights. The first, ‘The Animals’ Film’, was broadcast on the British TV Channel 4 in 1982. The second film, by acclaimed US-based filmmaker Jayne Loader in the 1990s, was never completed.
This is how I learnt about Topsy, that she was electrocuted to death in 1903, and that her electrocution was filmed and is now available to watch on YouTube. I never forgot Topsy or the vivid image of her gruesome electrocution. It was shocking. infuriating, and a horrific example of how she and thousands of animals like her have been abused for human folly. I vowed that she would always be remembered. This is why I decided to write her biography.
As I researched Topsy and developed ideas about how to approach writing her biography, I realised there may be other ways to reach different audiences, and the idea began to produce a graphic novel. A biography and a graphic novel are two entirely different publications; however, they require research and writing, but use the material differently.
Your book debunks myths surrounding Topsy. Such as she was electrocuted as part of the “War of Currents.” Can you elaborate on this?
Thomas Alva Edison (1847 – 1931) was an inventor and businessman who founded the first industrial research laboratory. From the late 1880s to the early 1890s, Edison and his business competitor, George Westinghouse, engaged in what was known as the “War of Currents.” This determined the type of electricity the United States, an emerging industrial power, was going to use.
Edison advocated Direct Current (DC), and Westinghouse preferred Alternating Current (AC). It is often claimed that Topsy was killed as part of the War of Currents, but this is untrue. By the time of Topsy’s electrocution in 1903, the War of Currents was over, and AC was the preferred electrical transmission system.
It is also falsely claimed that Edison was present at Topsy’s electrocution and played a role in it. The Edison Manufacturing Company filmed Topsy’s electrocution and released it as ‘Electrocuting an Elephant,’ but by then, Edison did not own the company.
Topsy is far from alone in having experienced captivity and abuse at the hands of humans. You write about several other elephants used for entertainment, such as Mary, Jack and Black Diamond. And you make clear that these stories are not all in the past. Tell us about Happy.
In the early 1970s, six baby Asian elephants were born (most likely in Thailand) were caught and sold to the now-defunct Lion Country Safari in California. They were each named after one of the dwarves in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. One of them, a female, Happy, was born
in 1971. Another one, Sleepy, died soon after arriving.
Then, the five baby elephants were moved to the Lion Country Safari in Florida. In 1977, they were relocated to circuses and zoos across the United States. Happy and Grumpy went to the Bronx Zoo in New York.
In 2002, Grumpy was attacked by two other elephants and euthanised. Happy was separated from them but was joined by Sammie, a young female Asian elephant. She was later euthanised because of kidney failure.
From 2006 to the present, Happy lived alone. She is the focus of a legal campaign by the Nonhuman Rights Project. Happy is also known for “passing” the mirror test in 2005 when she recognised herself.
How do you view today’s zoos and our relationship with elephants through them?
I am a vegan who calls for animal rights. I do not support any entity of any kind that imprisons or otherwise instrumentally uses animals, regardless of purpose, including alleged human benefit. Consequently, I do not support zoos, travelling zoos, wildlife parks, menageries, aquariums, and marine mammal displays. I would like to see them converted to authentic sanctuaries providing lifetime care and protection to animals and birds who are unable to be returned to the wild.
There is a growing number of sanctuaries specialising in elephant care in India, Thailand, France, Brazil, and the United States. I am aware that in Southeast Asia, some facilities claim to be elephant sanctuaries, but they continue to use them instrumentally by, for example, providing rides, performing tricks, and washing them in rivers. A true sanctuary provides lifetime care for elephants to live without human interference.
This book is part of the larger Topsy Project. What are your aims for this project?
I work to see a world where elephants live free with their rights protected effectively by law. I want Topsy to be remembered, not as the elephant who was electrocuted to death, but as one of many elephants whose tragic life stories deserve to be remembered. These elephant biographies teach us about human-animal relationships and prompt the development of human societies founded on compassion, truth, nonviolence, and justice. The Topsy Project is an umbrella name for separate but related projects telling her story in different ways, including as a biography, graphic novel, short animated film, and art exhibit.
And where can people find you to learn more about Topsy?
Please visit my websites at www.kimstallwood.com and www.topsytheelephant.com.
My books about Topsy and animal rights are available from my websites and Amazon.
To stay up to date with me and my work, please subscribe to my page at Substack: https://kimstallwood.substack.com.
