Animal welfare organizations Peace 4 Animals and Wildlife SOS have collaboratively launched the “Refuse to Ride Elephants: End The Abuse” campaign, which focuses on raising awareness about the exploitative elephant riding industry in Jaipur, India.
The cruel trade is prevalent throughout Asia, but is especially visible in Jaipur, where over 100 elephants are forced to provide rides to tourists. The “Refuse to Ride” campaign is kicking off by spreading messages through billboards, rickshaws, travel and airline publications, and digital media.
From the outside looking in, elephant riding seems harmless to many, but what goes on behind “closed doors” is another story.
“What transpires before the elephant ride is animal cruelty and torture at its worst. Once stolen as babies from their families in the wild, they are beaten until they can’t take it any more in order to break their spirit and force them into a life of enslavement to line people’s pockets,” Katie Cleary, Founder of Peace 4 Animals and World Animal News, stated.
There’s even a name for the spirit-breaking process elephants are subjected to: phajaan. During “phajaan,” elephants are conditioned to endure 18-hour “work days” and to automatically follow commands simply to avoid painful abuse.
“Our goal is to raise awareness about the horrors that elephants are subjected to so that people around the world can make an educated and compassionate decision to help end this abhorrent industry by refusing to ride elephants,” Cleary continued.
One-third of Jaipur’s working elephants are over 50 years old and nearly 20 percent of them are blind. They all suffer debilitating physical problems, including cracks, deformation, and arthritis, and many of them were illegally trafficked from the wild.
The “Refuse to Ride” campaign is an important step toward eliminating elephant riding from the tourism industry by reducing the demand for it and the willingness to support it. By learning the straightforward facts about elephant riding, travelers are being empowered to make conscious, animal-friendly decisions.
Let’s help STOP this unconscionable, sadistic treatment of Elephants PERMANENTLY — thank you for your work — KEEP AT IT until they are all sent to Sanctuaries where they can lead happy, healthy, normal lives.
Stop these rides!
If you ride one of these elephants it is the same as if you had beaten it with a stick yourself! Don’t ride the elephants, the people making money out of this will find another, hopefully less cruel, way of making money.
These amazing creatures were never meant to be forced into such a life. This mistreatment of elephants must end. Just another circus-type mistreatment!!
Kevin, You are absolutely right, these gentle creatures deserve so much better! Elephants are beaten, tortured and starved into submission and this must end. Stop riding on elephants, this is animal abuse!!
Absolutely and amen!! This abuse must stop!! Thanks for responding to my post.
Riding on elephants in this day and age is animal abuse! These elephants are beaten, tortured and starved into submission! It is now time for EVERYONE to take responsibility for their actions and say no to riding on elephants.
Amen!!
Riding on elephants in this day and age is animal abuse! These elephants are abused, beaten and starved into submission! It is now time for EVERYONE to take responsibility for their actions and say no to riding on elephants!
Riding on elephants in this day and age is animal abuse! These elephants are tortured, beaten and starved into submission! It is now time for EVERYONE to take responsibility for their actions and say no to riding on elephants!
disgusting
end this barbarism
Never have and never would ride an elephant. these animals are brutally treated so the become ‘compliant’
There is a special place in he’ll for Animal abusers. Feel their pain!
Any animal abuser must be severely punished! Death sounds good and right to me!
I have never ridden on an elephant even if I got the chance.
All God’s creatures deserve respect and compassion, it is a humane way to share our world
I don’t believe animals should be used in this way.
I am so very glad animal cruelty has become a federal offence in America! Now if it could be made so in other countries That would really be great!
We need everyone to sign this petition to save our beautiful elephants. This is not right
With all the elephant abuse going on in India they should constantly be made aware of what Mahatma Gandhi said…’The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated’.
This is not ok to treat Elephants in this way, I think it’s about time your goverment stoped this cruelty to these amazing animals, stop being cruel to these animals!!
Please stop abusing these intelligent, emotional, family-oriented gentle creatures. How would you feel if someone strapped a “saddle” on your back and made you ride about all day long, being beaten about the head or body if you were tired or thirsty or hungry? How would you like it if this happened to your children or spouse? How would you like it if you were refused rest, shade, a glass of water, or something to eat? How would you like it if someone treated your family this way? What about being kept alone, away from any of your family or friends, shackled about your ankles and tethered to a tree or kept in a small cell?
Would you enjoy being held captive all of your life, beginning as a baby, spending perhaps 60-70 years alone, in solitary confinement, while enduring the above treatment? Would you allow this to happen to your family? If not, please stop making it happen to the elephant’s families.
Thank you.
We need to take a stand and let the world know we hate cruelty to animals. And will not patronize any business that uses and abuses animals.
COMMENTS. Believe even though this has been going on for decades…as camels..etc have been abused overworked locked-up..chained..etc.etc. We need to stop all cruelty for entertainment purposes…
Please DO NOT even think of riding these poor elephants if you even knew a bit of how they are treated you’d be signing this petition in a flash so PLEASE sign now. Take care
Poor elephants. It is essential this cruelty is stopped.
what help is there for humanity when horrific acts of animal cruelty are allow to exist
We need everyone to sign this petition to save our beautiful elephants what they are doing is wrong and cruel they suffer they need our help
STOP CRUELTY TO ALL ANIMALS WORLDWIDE. ANIMALS ARE SENTIENT INDIVIDUALS WITH MORE INTELLECT AND MUCH MORE LOYALTY THAN “humans”. ANIMALS NEED THEIR RIGHTS SINCE THEY DESERVE TO BE TREATED MORE AS INDIVIDUALS THAN OBJECTS.
Seconded!
Your comments are some of the most intelligent and compassionate ones I’ve ever heard regarding animals. Keep the voice going for the animals all over the world!!! 😊