Help stop the heart-wrenching acts of cruelty in the Sakrebyle Elephant Camp at Shimoga, Karnataka (India)
Help stop the heart-wrenching acts of cruelty in the Sakrebyle Elephant Camp at Shimoga, Karnataka (India)
Why this petition matters
It is a crying shame that the gentle and sensitive elephants at the Sakrebyle Elephant Camp at Shimoga, Karnataka (India) are physically and mentally abused in depressing conditions – all in the name of training.
I know this because while on a road trip across Karnataka, my family, friends and I decided to stop by the Sakrebyle Elephant Camp on 22 June 2014. As animal lovers, we were expecting that it would be a pleasure to see the elephants up close especially since the brochure of the Government of Karnataka shows the visitors being allowed to help bathe the elephants in the river. Contrary to our expectations, what we witnessed was horrbible and heartbreaking.
We were taken completely aback as saw group of men hitting, whipping and caning a baby elephant. The baby elephant was falling to his sides, twice with his face in the mud, and was screaming and crying away. We instinctively cried and shouted towards the men to stop the shocking and inhuman cruelty. Our first thought was that a rope had been stuck around the elephant; when we asked them as to why the rope was so tightly tied around the neck, one of them walked over to us and said, "yeh jungalee janwar ko aadmi ke layak banane ka tarika hai" (This is a way of making a wild animal like a human). As such, this abuse was part of the 'training' of the elephants although we fail to understand the purpose of the physical and psychological abuse of the elephant. Our group is left traumatized by this experience.
We have taken photographs and a video of the torture being inflicted upon the baby elephant but it does not even capture half of the abuse to the baby that we witnessed. This was because our group was so horrified and in utter shock that even the hands of the photographer were shaking while filming.
This inhuman treatment meted out to these gentle creatures (and too of a baby elephant) must be brought to an end.
Please join me, and In Defense of Animals India (IDA India), in calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of Karnataka to help stop the shameful cruelty meted out to these gentle creatures by initiating the following actions:
(a) an inquiry should be set up to investigate into the inhumane treatment of the elephants by the inconsiderate caretakers and appropriate action must be taken
(b) the facility should be closely monitored to ensure that no further acts of cruelty take place in the camp; and
(c) the handlers / staff should be trained in better non-abusive handling and given a sensitizing course on how to bond with the animal (perhaps by experienced trainers abroad); they should be asked to spend at least one hour talking fondly with the animal and connecting with the animal.
Thank you for your action.
With resolve,
Naina Athale
Managing Committee Member
Always….In Defense of Animals