Captive Elephants earn several crores every year for their owners who ‘rent’ them out for processions and festivities. What do these animals get in return? Nothing but a lifetime of pain, ill-health, torture and brutality inflicted by their owners. No matter how profitable, no wild animal deserves to be restrained or ‘used’ for even one day in a year as that one day means a lifetime of painful restriction, abuse and exploitation.
CUPA’s report on the Welfare and Veterinary Status of the Captive Elephants of Guruvayur Devaswom in Thrissur has been highlighted in Rukmini Sekhar’s article published in The Hindu on October 24, 2015, drawing much needed attention to the sorry and severely compromised lives of almost 60 elephants owned by the temple for the sole frivolous purpose of pomp and show.