The elephant had recently been acquired from Forepaugh Circus, where she had a reputation as a "bad" elephant, having killed a drunken spectator the previous year who burnt the tip of her trunk with a lit cigar. After several incidents at Luna Park (sometimes attributed to the actions of her handler, William "Whitey" Alt) the owners of Luna Park, Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, claimed they could no longer handle the elephant and announced they would hang Topsy in a public spectacle and charge admission.
The elephant, previously owned by Forepaugh Circus, had a history of violence, having killed a spectator with a lit cigar in the previous year. After several incidents at Luna Park (sometimes attributed to her handler), the owners decided they could no longer handle Topsy and planned to publicly execute her for profit.