29 Elephants Rescued From Circuses and Rehabilitated Following PETA India and FIAPO Campaigns
For Immediate Release:
15 December 2022
Contact:
Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]
Khushboo Gupta; [email protected]
Ahmedabad – It’s official: Following vigorous campaigns by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), 29 formerly abused elephants rescued from Indian circuses over the past five years are now enjoying high-quality lives.
A recent inspection conducted by The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) – a statutory body established under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 – reports that all these elephants rescued from the entertainment industry are now well cared for at an elephant centre managed by the Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT) in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Their successful retirement is the result of campaigns by PETA India and FIAPO, following which the Central Zoo Authority derecognised and prohibited all Indian circuses from keeping and using elephants for performances. The inspection was conducted by the AWBI following the order of the Delhi High Court based on petitions filed by PETA India and FIAPO seeking a direction to the central government to notify a complete ban on the use of animals for performances in circuses.
The copy of the AWBI inspection report along with photographs of the elephants enjoying their new home can be available upon request.
The inspection team, which included AWBI officials, representatives of the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority; the Department of Animal Husbandry, Gujarat; and representatives from PETA India and FIAPO, found that the rescued elephants now have a chain-free life and the opportunity to interact with other elephants, both of which are natural conditions that were denied them by the exploitative circuses. The care facility uses positive reinforcement when engaging with elephants, such as food rewards, and no torture devices, such as ankushes or spears, are permitted. The elephants are provided with nutritious natural food, daily walks, opportunities to forage and swim in large water bodies, and environmental enrichments.
“Elephants deserve to be respected and never forced to perform demeaning tricks under the threat of beatings or kept in chains,” says PETA India Director of Advocacy Projects Khushboo Gupta. “PETA India is grateful to the Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust for providing gentle giants who only knew misery and suffering with the opportunity to lead unfettered lives in the company of other elephants. We urge everyone to demonstrate that they care about elephant welfare by rejecting any rides, festivals, or other spectacles in which elephants or other wonderful animals are used and abused.”
“Elephants belong in the wild. These 29 elephants have spent most of their lives in chains and performing tricks in circuses,” says FIAPO CEO Bharati Ramachandran. “But now they can look forward to a life of dignity and relative liberty. The public needs to recognise that elephants are not meant to be used for the entertainment of humans. Indeed, no animal is.”
These 29 elephants were formerly forced to perform in circuses, kept chained when they weren’t performing, and under the constant threat of being harmed by weapons, purportedly for training. The circuses that relinquished the elephants include the Ajanta, Empire, Famous, and Kohinoor circuses from Kolkata, Great Apollo Circus from Delhi, Great Golden Circus from Ahmedabad, Great Prabhath Circus from Hyderabad, Moonlight Circus from Lakhimpur (Assam), Rambo Circus from Pune, and Rajmahal Circus from Kanpur.
Numerous inspections of circuses by the AWBI and its 2016 study report, which recommended a ban on using captive elephants for performances, have pointed out that there is substantial evidence that cruelty is inherent when elephants are violently trained: their spirits are broken to make them obey human commands, they’re forced to perform difficult tricks, and they’re exhibited in crowded, noisy, and unnatural environments. PETA India, FIAPO, and several of FIAPO’s member animal welfare organisations, were part of these inspections and reports.
The inspection team also observed eight horses rescued from Great Golden and Famous circuses and 11 dogs and 16 exotic birds rescued from Great Golden Circus living a life free from abuse in facilities managed by the RKTEWT.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
#
