Animal activists have complained that an ailing elephant with a paralysed trunk was forced to carry out a ritual at the Thiruvambadi temple recently.
In a letter to the Director of Project Elephant under the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forest) and the AWBI (Animal Welfare Board of India), the Heritage Animal Task Force alleged that the elephant, Thiruvambadi Ramabhadran, which had wounds all over its body, was forced to take part in the temple ritual on a very hot day.
“The elephant was brought to the temple and taken back through a tarred road,” said V.K. Venkitachalam, secretary, Heritage Animal Task Force.
The Animal Welfare Board of India had a year ago recommended euthanasia for the elephant.
According to a report of the AWBI, the elephant was in severe pain, distress and in extremely poor condition due to trunk paralysis. “It was not able to take food or water due to paralysis of the trunk. It was not flapping his ears, a usual key practice of elephants for thermo-regulation. It had multiple chronic wounds on its body, some of which were gangrenous,” the AWBI report said.
Euthanasia recommended
The AWBI team recommended euthanasia of the elephant as per guidelines of ‘Euthanasia in Elephants’ issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF & CC) to prevent further deterioration of the elephant’s health and continued suffering.
Meanwhile, a press release from the Thiruvambadi Devawom said elephant Ramabhadran, which has been undergoing treatment for foot disease, visited the temple as part of evaluation of the result of its treatment, as recommended by the doctors. “It took three rounds of the temple carrying the idol. Expert treatment has been given for the elephant,” said Devaswom president Prof. Chandrasekharan.
