Della is an animal lover and she does what she preaches. She is currently taking care of elephants in Thailand.
Elephant manifesto and other matters...
Wildlife Friends of Thailand is a safe haven for abused wild animals. In Thailand (but not only, to be fair), gibbons, macaques and others serve as photo props for tourists who are unaware that, by asking for or accepting that service, they are seriously stressing and endangering the animals. I will tell you about the primates in a future update but for now, please take a moment to read the following manifesto:
ELEPHANT MANIFESTO: SAY NO TO STREET-BEGGING ELEPHANTS!!!
By giving money to mahouts (elephant handlers) tourists are contributing to elephant abuse:
· to perform, the elephant has to be 'broken' using the cruel Pahjaan process – the elephant is starved, burnt, stabbed and systematically tortured to make it obey humans.
· elephant obedience is based on FEAR and PAIN. If commands are disobeyed, the elephant is beaten. If tricks to entertain tourists are not learnt, the elephant is beaten.
· The elephant is often starved to keep it looking small and 'cute' for tourists, so it is hungry for tourists' food.
· Making elephants perform on dirty, unhealthy streets is illegal to do and causes road traffic accidents. Tourists can now also be fined for supporting street-begging elephants.
DON'T SUPPORT ANIMAL ABUSE
DON'T PAY TO FEED A STREET ELEPHANT
The mahouts are NOT poor people (this is a myth)- they earn the Thai equivalent of a small fortune every night from exploiting elephants and tourists who are unaware of the cruelty involved. By feeding it, you are not helping the owner's elephant, just its owners bank balance.
A handful of elephants were lucky to be 'saved' by WFFT and will finish their life safe and secure from the cruelty of the mahouts. For obvious reasons, it is very difficult to get the mahouts to hand over their elephants. As a result, the one and only way to stop this abuse is to not support it. If there is no more demand, hopefully the abuse will stop.
