Close on the heels of the reports of an elephant from Rambo Circus running amok in Pune and spreading panic in the city, the Animal Welfare Board of India(AWBI) on Thursday in an advisory submitted to Environment Ministry has called for issuing a central notification to ban the training, exhibition, and use of elephants for performances in India.
This recommendation is based on a study conducted by the members of the board, including animal-welfare and legal experts from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA).
The Advisory written to the Secretary Environment Ministry by Under Secretary Animal Welfare Division has called for keeping the law of Prevention of Cruelty To Animals, 1960 in force and undertake requisite amendments from time to time. It has further advised the government to frame rules under the Act to prevent unnecessary pain or suffering to animals when they are subjected to performance, confinement or captivity.
The AWBI study says that elephants, though protected under The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 are excluded from the ban imposed by the central government for use of various wild species from being used for performance. The study report points out that there is substantial evidence that cruelty and abuse are inherent when wild animals such as elephants are violently trained, have their spirits broken to make them obey human commands, are forced to perform tricks that are not natural to their behaviour, and are exhibited in crowded, noisy, and unnatural environments.
It also draws attention to the increasing number of incidents in which elephants have reacted to human abuse and have hurt or killed many people - as well as the prevalence of zoonotic diseases such as tuberculosis in captive elephants, which can spread to humans.
According to figures compiled by the Heritage Animal Task Force, captive elephants have killed more than 526 people in Kerala within the last 15 years alone.
"The elephants in captivity are abducted from their families, chained by the legs, and beaten into submission. Common way of torturing them to submission is the constant threat of punishment from bull hooks (ankush) which are jabbed into the sensitive skin on their faces, feet, and knees," says Dr Manilal Valliyate PETA India Director of Veterinary Affairs. The Animal Welfare Board has honoured elephants in a befitting manner on the occasion of this Ganesh Chaturthi, he adds.