Humans have the capability to tame various wild animals and keep them as pets or make them work for their vested interests. We see that people keep dogs, cats, horses, etc. as pets and take care of them but there are many instances where these animals are not treated properly and they suffer cruelty at the hands of their trainers or owners. To what extent do you think it’s correct? Is it justifiable to show your power on the one who is weaker than you? Well, it will be in fact incorrect to call them weak as they are not given the chance to show their might and if they get an opportunity, they can make their owners who torture them run for life.
There is no denying the fact that humans are the most intelligent creatures on this planet Earth but why humans don’t understand that these wild animals also have feelings and giving them pain and agony makes us inferior to them.
Image Source: texashillcountry.com
Elephants are used for work and tourism purposes in many parts of the world as they are powerful and perfect for pulling heavy equipment or carrying heavy loads or for giving a ride to the tourists. In fact, in old times, the elephants used to be an integral part of armies of the Kings, so we can easily say that the association between humans and elephants exist for quite a long time now.
But when we get to witness incidents of brutality on the elephants despite the fact that they are contributing so much in our lives, we feel very sad.
Image Source: upali.ch
Every animal lover and the person who rescues these elephants ask this question as to what is the need for the trainers and owners to handle these animals with such cruelty. They may not be able to learn the tricks very easily and early but why are we forgetting that they are animals, not humans. They are not as intelligent as we are and we should keep a softer and patient approach towards them.
Image Source: valet.ru
Bullhook or ankusha is a hook attached to a handle of 2-3 ft. and it is used for the purpose of training and controlling the elephants. It is used on the sensitive parts of the body such as behind the ear or near the eye where the skin is relatively thin in comparison to the other parts of the body.
Image Source: www.pinsdaddy.com
The use of bullhooks is normally justified by the trainers and handlers as they claim that it is used for just guiding the elephant. However, in reality, the use of bullhooks on elephants harms them not just physically but emotionally as well.
Image Source: www.viraldiario.com
SookJai is the name of a 74-yr old female elephant that suffered a lot at the hands of her trainers as they made her perform many work tasks along with carrying the tourists on her back and giving them a ride. She has been rescued a year back but before that all those years, she suffered a lot of cruelty. Her handlers kept changing but there was no improvement in her condition and she kept on suffering the severe physical torment.
Image Source: microfilenetwork.com
After looking at her condition it was absolutely clear that bullhook has been used a lot on her as she was in an injured state with marks of piercing on her head and wounds on her body. The worst part was that the injuries got infected as well, making things tough as at this age, it takes time to heal the wounds.
Image Source: www.elephantnaturepark.org
As the elephants age, they tend to lose the sight and their hearing ability also reduces. Sook Jai is completely blind and mostly deaf but she was still going through the torture at this age in this condition. This makes us think and ponder as is really humanity alive because any person who can be so cruel to a 73-yr old, blind and deaf animal can’t be called a human, he is definitely a devil.
Image Source: www.elephantnaturepark.org
When the rescue workers from Elephant Nature Park went to Kanchanaburi province, west Thailand to bring her to a new home, she was very doubtful as she must have thought that it is a part of the abuse that she is going under. A lot of time was taken by Sook Jai for entering into the truck and lot of cajoling was done by the rescue workers in order to make her enter the truck.
Image Source: www.storyfox.de
She seemed to be hungry during the journey but she didn’t eat anything as she was doubtful as to what is happening with her. After a 20 hr journey, she arrived at the Elephant Nature Park and she may have taken time in entering the truck but she came out quite quickly of the truck when she reached the park.
Image Source: youtube.com
When SookJai realized that her life has changed for better, tears of joy could be seen in her eyes as she waved her trunk in happiness. She started eating more resulting improvement in her health, her wounds took time in healing but the good thing was that they healed. In the beginning, Sook Jai used to get into the river only but sooner she started exploring the rest of the park as well.
Image Source: theepochtimes.com
Now she is a happy elephant, eating good, wandering in the whole park, having fun in the river, playing with the mud and scratching her back on the trees. Sook Jai has recovered from her past and we hope that more and more animals who are suffering will get a chance to lead a normal and happy life.
Image Source: www.elephantnaturepark.org
This is definitely a great and a very noble initiative by Save The Elephant Foundation and hopefully, we will get to see more animals getting rescued by the foundation and living a happy life rather than living a life of sorrow and pain.
Image Source: www.elephantnaturepark.org
Humans should also become more kind and concerned towards these animals as they also deserve to live a free life. We should not exploit these animals just because we can make them work for us and even if we are taking work from them, they should be provided a good living environment, food and medical treatment.
Image Source: jonlieffmd.com
There are various organizations which are working for the welfare of animals and if you get to see someone handling an animal in a cruel manner, you can inform those organizations with proper details and from there they can take care of the matter. It’s understandable that not everyone has the resources to rescue an animal but passing on information to relevant organizations will also be of great help to these animals.
Image Source: rackcdn.com
Hopefully, we will get to hear some more stories about animals being saved from physical agony.