People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has urged the Cochin Devaswom Board to consider replacing elephants under its temples with mechanical ones for rituals and processions, thereby protecting devotees and the animals.
The CDB was petitioned following a recent incident in which an elephant, Guruvayur Ravikrishnan, went berserk and attacked another elephants and devotees. In a letter to the Cochin Devaswom Board, PETA India Director of Advocacy Projects Khushboo Gupta said elephants, like humans, were naturally fearful of fire. Waving fire torches in close proximity to them could harm their skin, causing painful burns, and sparks could fly into their eyes.
PETA said that it had already donated two life-size mechanical elephants - Irinjadappilly Raman to Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur and Mahadevan to the Thrikkayil Mahadeva Temple in Kochi - in recognition of both the temples’ decision to never to own or hire live elephants.
