INTERVIEW – JOE STERN – Cobblers Bench Shoe Repair, stores in Washington, DC area — helped with shoe design for the elephant

• Arthritic Elephant At National Zoo Gets Pachyderm Pedicures And Giant Teva Boots. Asian elephant Shanthi plays in an enclosure at the Elephant Community Center during the unveiling of the major expansion of the elephant house at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2013. Veterinarians at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo have turned to an unconventional therapy for an arthritic 41-year-old Asian elephant — shoes. Huge black boots designed by Teva for Shanthi’s front feet, to be exact. They are “about a size 20, with an EEEEEEEEEEEE width,” as The Washington Post reports, adding that “a single boot resembled a rubberized birdbath.”