A South African animal rights group on Tuesday accused an elephant park of cruelty after ‘horrific’ video footage emerged of abusive training methods used on baby elephants.
“The footage shows elephant calves and juvenile elephants being chained, roped and stretched, shocked with electric cattle prods and hit with bull hooks,” the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said.This was done to break the animals’ spirit so that they would obey humans, it said in a statement.“The elephants show signs of crippling injuries with severely swollen legs and feet, debilitating abscesses and wounds,” National Council of SPCAs inspector Wendy Willson said.