Stemming form ARM’s international investigation in Nepal in 2014, where investigators travelled into the depths of the southern region of the country to document the appalling Ghadhamai festival, it became clear on the extremely poor conditions that the animals of these countries are enduring every single day. From cart horses who work for 16 hours a day to the abundant crisis of overpopulation of stray dogs and cats, and of course the animals sacrifices that were witnessed as an almost daily routine.
Since then ARM has expanded it’s investigations throughout Nepal and in November of 2015, entered into India to document the abuse of the majestic elephants, who are being abused, tortured, beaten and held captive for their entire lives – simply to meet the needs of tourists who travel into these countries and are unaware of what taking a ride on an elephant in a foreign land can oftentimes entail for the animal itself.
On this particular 8 day investigation, ARM documented two operations. First the Sonenpur Mepal animal fair, where amongst other animals, elephants are traded and sold illegally. The second operation that ARM went undercover in, was to the epicenter of the elephant tourism industry outside of one of India’s busting cities.
Bound and shackled, this elephant spends the day swaying and bobbing in frustration.
India’s poor economy has recognized the value of extorting elephants and to capitalize on the millions of visitors who flock to India and have ‘one of a kind’ experiences, such as riding the backs of one of the worlds largest and most majestic animals. What the majority of people do not see, are the extremely cruel and neglectful conditions that these animals are kept in for their entire lives.
They are captured illegally and ripped away from their families. Being extremely intelligent creatures with a social complexity unlike any other, the elephants suffer incredibly from being separated from their families and herds. They are then subjected to working long hours with out adequate food and water. They are shackled and bound by heavy chains that cause abscesses and sores, left untreated. They are beaten into submission and many suffer mental breakdowns and issues. Here they are merely a commodity and their souls are left broken until they serve no more of a ‘money making’ purpose.
ARM investigators infiltrated, Sonepur Mela, which is reknown as the largest cattle fair in Asia. However, cattle is not necessarily the main draw to those who know of this fair and the trading of an extensive number of species, including native wildlife and protected species such as the Asian elephants, are famously traded and sold, many of them, illegally. Besides the legal aspects of this fair, animals are brutally shackled, bound and tethered with no food or water as they are on display to be traded and sold. Elephants draw the most attention but because they are illegal, they are often traded behind ‘closed doors’.
The fair itself disregards countless legal aspects and provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, which bans commercial trading of certain species of animals. Multiple violations have been conducted and overlooked for decades. ARM’s mission is to expose these crimes and enforce protection upon these animals and endangered wildlife.
Read the Dodo article here!https://www.thedodo.com/attraction-turns-to-abuse-1503964339.html
A baby elephant, separated from it’s mother and bound, awaiting to be traded.