Given the traumatic nature of the event at the beginning of the year, we received records in small increments as they became available. The zoo is understaffed, particularly for such a catastrophic event. One of the keepers was fired for failing to lock the door of Ruth's barn, which meant that the bare bones staffing became stretched even thinner. Elephant keepers are also responsible for other creatures at this small zoo of less than 200 "specimens."
However, it appears there was at least one keeper with Ruth for the first two weeks. While this is unusual for a zoo, it is NOT unusual for The Elephant Sanctuary that has on-site staffing and 24/7 care.
Keeper logs for period January 1 through 8, 2014
These are the elephant keeper logs. Code abbreviations are located on the left side of the page.
Keeper logs for period January 3 through 28, 2014
These logs show the hourly care Ruth received. They also show how grave her situation was--she refused drink and food. Her trunk may have been feeling the effects of being in subzero temperatures for nearly two hours.
Medical records for January 15 to February 24, 2014
On January 27, Ruth's developed secondary infections of staph and strept on the raw tissue of her frostbitten ears, tail and vulva and on her back legs. She did not receive a full dosage of the antibiotics that the veterinarian ordered until February 17. This allowed the infections to take hold, and she suffered boils and lesions for many months afterward. Secondary infections can be fatal in frostbite patients.