Bangkok - Hollywood actor Steven Seagal has written a letter to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urging him to order a stop to the "systematic torture" of baby elephants, the English-language newspaper The Nation reported on Tuesday.
Seagal referred to a recent accusation by representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Elephants (Peta) that young elephants were allegedly routinely mistreated to make them "compliant" so they could be used as attractions in tourist entertainment facilities.
"One hundred years ago Thailand had 15 000 elephants. Today there are only 5 000, the majority of which are in private hands," the action-movie actor wrote according to the newspaper report.
He asked the prime minister in his letter to "immediately enact laws to abolish their use and abuse by the entertainment industry".
Peta activists say the elephant-training ritual, known as "phaajaan", involved forcefully separating young elephants from their mothers, confining them to tiny wooden cages, depriving them of food and water and beating them with nail-studded sticks to prepare them for a life of servitude in one of Thailand's many elephant camps.
Local elephant handlers denied the torture allegations, saying the ritual had been proven over hundreds of years as an effective, but not necessarily cruel, means to accustom young pachyderms to humans and "taking the edge off a potentially dangerous, wild animal".
Traditionally, elephants have been highly revered in Thailand not only as domesticated working animals in the forestry industry but also as a symbol of the Thai monarchy.
A Peta report on the alleged torturing ritual, which appears to have formed the basis of Seagal's letter, met with strong denials from both the government and local handlers when it was released several weeks ago and also posted on the Internet. - Sapa-DP
Taken from : http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=143&art_id=qw1044935640148B234&set_id=9
Seagal referred to a recent accusation by representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Elephants (Peta) that young elephants were allegedly routinely mistreated to make them "compliant" so they could be used as attractions in tourist entertainment facilities.
"One hundred years ago Thailand had 15 000 elephants. Today there are only 5 000, the majority of which are in private hands," the action-movie actor wrote according to the newspaper report.
He asked the prime minister in his letter to "immediately enact laws to abolish their use and abuse by the entertainment industry".
Peta activists say the elephant-training ritual, known as "phaajaan", involved forcefully separating young elephants from their mothers, confining them to tiny wooden cages, depriving them of food and water and beating them with nail-studded sticks to prepare them for a life of servitude in one of Thailand's many elephant camps.
Local elephant handlers denied the torture allegations, saying the ritual had been proven over hundreds of years as an effective, but not necessarily cruel, means to accustom young pachyderms to humans and "taking the edge off a potentially dangerous, wild animal".
Traditionally, elephants have been highly revered in Thailand not only as domesticated working animals in the forestry industry but also as a symbol of the Thai monarchy.
A Peta report on the alleged torturing ritual, which appears to have formed the basis of Seagal's letter, met with strong denials from both the government and local handlers when it was released several weeks ago and also posted on the Internet. - Sapa-DP
Taken from : http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=143&art_id=qw1044935640148B234&set_id=9
