Deckers' Teva unit is designing a new line of shoes made especially for elephants. Carol Buckley, Executive Director of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee recently contacted Barry McGeough, Teva's Senior Director of Product and Resource, and asked if they would create a pair of shoes for Tina, a 34 year old Asian elephant suffering from a debilitating foot disease. McGeough was intrigued with the idea and said he would need a model of Tina's feet to determine how the shoes would be made.
Tina took up residency at The Sanctuary last August. She was moved from The Greater Vancouver Zoo because of a medical condition which caused her feet and nails to be excruciatingly painful. Tina has been healing but the process is slow. The pads of her feet are still very tender, therefore, she is hesitant to go outside and explore the habitat. Sanctuary Co-Directors, Carol Buckley and Scott Blais, brainstormed for a way to enable Tina to enjoy her new surroundings and came up with the idea of shoes to protect her tender feet.
Teva is interested in designing and creating just the right shoe for Tina; lightweight with a cushioned bottom and fitted sides that breathe and allow water to flow through. This design will protect the bottoms of Tina's feet. Tina's new shoes will permit her to navigate throughout the habitat, in the ponds, streams and mud wallows, without difficulty or pain.
In the coming weeks Tina will be on camera wearing her custom Teva shoes as she roams The Sanctuary's natural habitat with her adopted elephant family.
The Elephant Sanctuary, located in Hohenwald, Tennessee is the nation's first natural-habitat refuge developed to meet the needs of endangered elephants. The Sanctuary is a non-profit organization, licensed by the US Department of Agriculture and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Two separate herds of eight Asian elephants and three African elephants currently call The Sanctuary home, with plans to rescue more in the future.
