“I really hope people come and learn exactly what goes on behind all of the façade of the frills and fancy ideas of elephants doing paintings, (participating) in circuses, and elephant rides. It all looks very glamorous on the surface, but hidden behind public sight is this very dark, real, and traumatizing life.”
There was a time when Amy Bedard had been in the dark about the endangerment and treatment of Asian elephants, but that all changed in 2018.
Amy Bedard
“About a year ago an Instagram ad popped up on my feed for an elephant at a zoo in Japan, and it kick started this campaign of compassion inside of my heart for elephants,” described Bedard. “I really started researching and finding out how emotional they are, how much capacity they have for different emotions, for memory, and how much they feel in terms of pain and love. They have extremely long lives. I didn’t know they could live to be 80 or 90-years-old, the same as people, so that’s such a long time for them to have to suffer.”
It was after coming to this realization that Bedard knew she had to do something.
Thus, The “Trumpet Loud” event, a free community educational opportunity, was born.
Scheduled to take place at the 4 Wing Community Theatre on May 25 at 6 p.m., the 11-years-old and up event focuses around bringing awareness to the issue and letting people know how they can help.
“We’re starting off with the 2018 documentary film, ‘Love and Bananas: An Elephant Story,’” Bedard detailed, adding after the film is done,there will be a live video call with film stars Lek Chailert and Darrick Thomson.
Bedard continued, “After that, we’re bringing in a guest speaker from Edmonton. Her name is Mary-Ann Holm. She will be doing a presentation on behalf of Lucy’s Edmonton Advocates Project (LEAP). She will be giving a presentation regarding Lucy at the Edmonton Valley Zoo.”
For Bedard, raising awareness about a topic that’s near and dear to her heart is the ultimate goal of the event.
“I hope people come and their eyes are opened up to what’s actually going on behind all of this so-called fun, and realize that it’s not fun at all... There are ethical ways you can get involved with elephants without doing them any harm.”
Trumpet Loud is geared towards those 11 and older because of some of the scenes in the film.
“The film hasn’t officially been rated, but there are some frightening scenes where elephants are in some not nice situations,” stated Bedard. “For the little ones, I think that might be a little too much for them.”
In the end, Bedard hopes to send a message to everyone in the community.
“(These animals are) going extinct. For years and years they’ve suffered violently in the entertainment industry, the tourism industry, and I really want to shine a light on that and get people involved and show them how they can help before it’s too late.”
