DON'T ALLOW SANDHYA, INDU, & JAYANTHI TO GO BACK TO A LIFE OF SUFFERING & CRUELTY

Honorable Supreme Court Justices: Hon'ble Ranjan Gogoi, Hon'ble Arvind Sharad Bobde and Hon'ble N V Ramana

We are sure you are aware of the current situation of three elephants, Sandhya (now 45 years old), Indu (now 35 yo) and Jayanthi (now 21 yo). After years of abuse, neglect and being chained at the Temple, in September of 2015, the Pontiff and the management unanimously decided to retire all 3 elephants as one group as they were like family and depended on each other for social contact. The Chief Wildlife Warden, Tamil Nadu, granted permission to transfer the three elephants to The Elephant Care Facility-TREE Foundation and WRRC. The Elephant Care Facility was a model to show what is the least we can do for elephants after we humans have done the great cruelty of removing them from the forests and enslaving them.  

https://youtu.be/2GeBBnYGisQ

Elephants are highly intelligent, emotional beings. So can you imagine? Please, for a moment, put yourself in their situation. How would you feel if you had been tortured, abused, beaten, neglected, exploited, chained for YEARS to finally be granted a caring environment where they can begin to explore freedom and autonomy. An environment where, for over three and half years, where you have blossomed and thrived both physically and psychologically. Then, out of nowhere, be descended upon and treated with such a high level of brutality, when you had done absolutely nothing wrong. Beaten for over7 hours because you resisted to being pulled into a truck; not understanding what is happening. This is exactly what happened to these three elephants on September 27, 2019. They simply reacted, as any of us would, if someone came to our home and violated us. To be re-brutalized and further traumatized. This level of brutality toward these gentle ones in inhumane and should not be tolerated by you nor anyone. For the past 3 and half years these elephants have been under a kinder more compassionate hand; learning to trust humans. It's unreasonable to want to move them, causing them such bodily harm and trauma, for unfounded reasons. After living under kinder care for the past years, to have everything taken away will be detrimental to their physical and mental health. This will cause further damage to India's already reputation for the abhorrent treatment of captive elephants.

In the video you can see these elephants where living a peaceful and harmonious life. Seeing their progress was a true delight to the world and it put India in a brighter compassionate light.   https://youtu.be/xx-N07SVh8A

As humans, it becomes our moral obligation to protect the vulnerable and voiceless. We emplore you to PLEASE alleviate the pain and suffering of these intelligent animals. Given your authoritative, God-given position, can you PLEASE do something for these poor elephants?

We still believed that humanity shall prevail and the court would actually look into the case in a humane manner and we humbly ask for an independent committee to look into this immediately.

Thank you 

• September of 2015, the Pontiff and the management unanimously decided to retire all 3 elephants
• The Chief Wildlife Warden, Tamil Nadu, granted permission to transfer the three elephants to The Elephant Care Facility-TREE Foundation and WRRC
• September 19, a High Court judgment ordered them to be shifted to the state-run MR Palayam elephant rehabilitation centre in Trichy.
• Judgment was announced even without hearing all parties concerned.
• All comments written by top government and non government officials, who visited the facility, appreciating the wonderful work carried out at the center, have gone unheard.
• High Court allowed over three weeks to safely trans locate the pachyderms
• Officials from the Forest Department turned up at the Marrakanam camp on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 and started forcing the animals into trucks.
• They even asked two of the elephant caregivers to remain inside the building and not step out when the animals were being whipped.
• Sandhya, Jayanthi and Indhu - were beaten up using bull-hooks and sticks.
• A few officers from the local police force and the forest department are seen supervising the torture meted out to the animal.
• Just before dawn, two mahouts yank a second elephant using ropes tied to her neck. Elephants tied up and given water through hoses.
• It took the forest department mahouts 7 hours to load Jayanthi into the truck. She was not given water when they moved her.