Calm Down, People. Jenny’s Not Going Anywhere Till October.

Jenny

Seriously, I hadn’t intended on writing another Jenny the elephant item this week — not even to point out this freshly minted Associated Press story about the zoo vs. sanctuary debate or to direct your attention to this ever-growing petition calling for her to be moved to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Alas, more Jenny — because, as it turns out, Mayor Tom Leppert’s office has been receiving calls all afternoon from Jenny supporters who’ve heard that the city has indeed signed off on moving her to Mexico and plans to do so immediately, despite Dallas Park and Recreation Department director Paul Dyer’s comment earlier this week that a final decision won’t be made till October.

Chris Heinbaugh, Leppert’s chief of staff, tells Unfair Park that “Jenny is not going anywhere at this point.” But he also acknowledges that, yes, some incorrect information was indeed given to a concerned caller this afternoon, resulting in further frantic calls to both Leppert and council member Angela Hunt’s offices. He explains what happened after the jump.

“My understanding is this is about an eight-month process, and they’re going to be very public about it,” Heinbaugh says. “The last thing anyone’s going to try to do is sneak her out like an NFL team. What apparently happened on this end was someone concerned about Jenny called in, and one of the folks in the office who answered the phone called the parks department and was given incorrect information by folks there, and it got passed along. Everyone’s been brought up to speed.” In other words, take a deep breath, folks. Long way to go till October. –Robert Wilonsky