Former Beatle Paul McCartney broke away from rehearsals for his performance at the London Olympics after he heard from PETA about the plight of a young elephant named Sunder who is being kept in chains and was being beaten at Jyotiba Temple in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. The music legend sent an urgent letter to Maharashtra Forest Minister Dr Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam urging him to use his power immediately to rescue the elephant.

"I have seen photographs of young Sunder, the elephant kept alone in a shed at Jyotiba Temple and put in chains with spikes", wrote McCartney. "Years of his life have been ruined by keeping him and abusing him in this way and enough is enough. I most respectfully call on you to get Sunder out."

McCartney's plea follows PETA India's discovery that Sunder was being abused by his mahout (or handler), who has gone on the run from the police since the group became involved. Sunder sustained a severe injury to his right eye from being jabbed in it with an ankus (a sharp, hooked metal poker-like weapon) by the mahout. The elephant is also confined to chains with sharp spikes and is kept alone inside a dark shed, in which he cannot take even a single step forward or backward. Sunder is denied all that is natural and important to him and lives in fear. There are lesions all over his body, indicating past beatings by the mahout. The elephant was donated to the temple by Maharashtra Member of the Legislative Assembly Vinay Kore.

A scandal is growing over the way some elephants used in Indian temples to represent the Hindu god Ganesha are being housed and mistreated. Frequently controlled through beatings and prodded and gouged in sensitive areas behind their knees and ears with an ankus, they languish without veterinary care for even serious conditions, sustain leg injuries and are fed unsuitable food. Many elephants at Indian temples also show signs of severe psychological distress, such as swaying, head-bobbing or weaving – behaviour not found in healthy elephants in the wild. The lack of exercise and the years spent standing in one position on hard concrete amid their own waste lead to painful and crippling foot ailments and arthritis.

You can help these elephants! Write to Minister of Forests Patangrao Kadam and ask him to help Sunder get to a sanctuary. Take action now!

Late one evening in a village in Maharashtra, a terrified hyena was running to escape a pack of street dogs when she tumbled into a well that was not visible to her in the darkness and plunged 50 feet down to the bottom. She had evaded the dogs, but now she was banged up and hopelessly trapped.

A man happened to witness the hyena's fall, and he jumped into action, calling Animal Rahat, our affiliate working in the Sangli district of Maharashtra, for help. Animal Rahat promptly sent a rescue team, which quickly hatched a plan. The team lowered a large net and, after several tries, was able to scoop up the hyena and pull the scared little animal to safety.

Members of the team took the hyena to the Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Centre to be checked for injuries and treated. After nearly two months of rehabilitation, the rescued hyena ate her last meal in captivity and was released back into the jungle. The area where she stepped out of her transfer cage was close to where she was found. The local forest department reported that more than a dozen hyenas—possibly from the rescued hyena's clan—are known to live in the area.

Hyenas can hear the calls of their clan from more than 2 miles away when they become separated, so it's possible that her family members heard her cries and were anxious for her safe return. 

Well done, Animal Rahat! If you would like to support their hard work for animals, please visit AnimalRahat.com and make a donation to help them help animals.

They suffer from physical exhaustion, muscle strain, laboured breathing and frothing at the mouth. They are forced to work in the extreme heat and humidity without even a drop of water or a moment's rest. Yes, this is the miserable plight of thousands of bullocks who are forced to pull heavy cartloads of sugarcane.

But now, thanks to our affiliate Animal Rahat, bullocks may be spared some suffering. After continuous efforts by the Animal Rahat team, Sangli District Collector Shyam D Wardhane issued an order to the district's sugarcane mills to immediately implement laws that protect animals forced to work. Beginning immediately, the average load of each cart is to be checked and documented, and mill management is to ensure that the upper legal limit is not exceeded.

Animal Rahat and law-enforcement agencies will closely monitor the implementation of the order.

Other provisions of the order include the following:

• Each mill will have a first-aid kit for animals and will appoint a veterinarian on consultation. The mills will ensure that veterinary services are available and accessible to animals in need of medical attention.
• Mills will provide animals with essential resources, including shade and drinking water. A sand pit for farriery must also be available on the premises. 
• The mills have agreed to bar animal owners from tormenting their animals with a number of commonly used cruel implements, including sharp wires and metal rods with protruding nails that can be jabbed into an animal's neck.

Thanks, Mr Wardhane, for helping animals! If you witness an act of cruelty to animals, please blow the whistle. Shoot us an e-mail at Info@petaindia.org. Let's fight animal abuse together!