We had the pleasure of visiting Kerala a few months back during our vacation to India. Truly was fascinated by its unspoiled nature and the hospitality provided by the locals. However when we visited the Kodanad Elephant training center, what we saw brought tears to our eyes. Both my wife & I love animals, especially Elephants. It's extremely pathetic to see their legs chained to the tree that mostly they had to stand the whole day, except for the time they bring them out to bath them in the nearby lake (15-30 minutes) twice a day. They have an option of lying down only on one side and you could notice that their back upper thigh part is pretty bruised up due to the constant usage of that side only. The elephants can be constantly seen rocking their head in side ways indicating agony & depression. Even during bathing time, some of these elephant's back legs were chained together that it was sickening to watch these huge beautiful animals taking baby steps. We witnessed physical & verbal abuse of the elephants during the bathing time as well. I am surprised that this cruelty is being allowed to happen at this age & time in India to a creature which Hinduism worships as god. Though we had many good memories about Kerala, this bad memory seem to be at the back of our minds all the times. I am sure that probably you were not made aware of this. Please unchain them, build an enclosure or rehabilitate them back to the wild. Just because they are animals, we should not let this happen. You have the power and can bring a positive change in their lives. Please do what is RIGHT & JUST.
