NEW TOPIC: Animal Rights

Article: PETA's killer whale 'enslavement' lawsuit goes to court

Written by: the CNN Wire Staff

The notorious organization that has assumed the responsibility for the protection of animal rights, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and their lawyers are headed to face the animal theme park SeaWorld in federal court. PETA is filing a lawsuit against the theme park giant stating that the park is holding five killer whales in slavery, or involuntary servitude, in violation of the United States' Thirteenth Amendment. PETA says that the 13th Amendment is not only applicable to humans, but animals as well. Their lawsuit states, "Plaintiffs were forcibly taken from their families and natural habitats, are held captive at SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld Orlando, denied everything that is natural to them, subjected to artificial insemination or sperm collection to breed performers for defendants' shows, and forced to perform, all for defendants' profit."
In defense SeaWorld has said that the lawsuit is "a baseless publicity stunt by PETA."

The five killer whales that have been placed under solitary confinement in SeaWorld deserve to thrive and flourish in the open, free waters of the ocean. They do not deserve to rot their lives away in stagnant water and be put on display for people to gawk at. If people truly want to enjoy and marvel in their beauty, and appreciate nature's design, they should observe them in their original habitats. However, they are often uneducated and unaware of the effects of captivity on such large, predatory animals.  

Although their hearts are in the right place, I don't believe that PETA's radical lawsuit will accomplish much of anything. I agree that these five killer whales are slaves to the SeaWorld Corporation and should not be confined to tanks like pet fish, but filing a lawsuit against their captors will not improve their lives in anyway, nor will it win back their freedom. It may shed light on and bring awareness to the plight of these animals, but a large, multi-million dollar industry such as SeaWorld will not take PETA's actions seriously. There might be a fuss about it now, but in the long run it will not make a difference. 

Instead, PETA should be making the general public aware of the suffering of the whales. The ignorance that this issue is faced with is unintentional, and it is PETA's responsibility to educate SeaWorld's audience about what is happening behind the theme park's closed doors. 

Even though I have my reservations about PETA's lawsuit against SeaWorld, there is still an inkling of optimism in me that hopes that it might work. 

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Quote blog

Ecclesiastes 3:21
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?

Many members of Christendom, and other religions, believe that animals do not have souls and are, therefore, unable to experience emotions. How can this be? How is it so impossible for someone to believe that another living, breathing, feeling being does not have the mental capacity to experience life as we do? In Buddhism we believe that it is morally incorrect to mistreat any living being, which is a belief that I have carried with me throughout my life, and so I find it rather difficult to accept the inferior rankings of animals on the ladder of life. Fauna have been place on the lowest rung, just above flora, merely due to their inability to express themselves and prove to us that they feel.  

If anyone has ever had a pet dog, cat, fish, hamster, etc., they would understand exactly what it is I am ranting on and on about. If you have ever lovingly cradled your pet in your arms, and have seen their eyes filled to the brim with gratitude and love, or scolded them for doing something bad and seen how hurt they were afterwards, you would agree that animals have souls. 

One of the most vivid memories of mine, which has influenced my beliefs on the matter, was when I was around 12 years old. I was at my cousins' home in New York and we were watching videos on YouTube, and suddenly we came across a clip of raccoons and dogs being beaten and skinned alive in China. My cousins and I love animals, and so, being foolish children, we dared each other to watch the video. When the video began, the animals were dragged out of cramped, wire cages and then beaten with metal poles. Then, their legs, fiercely fighting to free themselves from the fists that controlled their fate, hanged them. Once tied up, their bellies were sliced open with a single, swift flick of a knife. I couldn't close my eyes, nor could I look away. My cousins had already left the room. After that, the skin from their tiny legs was cut away and peeled from their broken bodies. I felt as if all of my innards were bubbling up my throat, begging to find a way out, but I persevered. Once their pelts were stolen from them, they were thrown into a mass of pink flesh, where their shivering bodies slowly succumbed to the pain. The last frame from the video was a close up of one of the animals. Its body was pink, slimy, and raw, and the only hair left on its body was the eyelashes that framed its large brown eyes. Although I was viewing the image from a computer screen, the misery in its eyes was clearly visible to me. 

After seeing that video, and having those images engrained in my memory, it angers me to know that certain individuals don't believe that animals have souls. I completely disagree with their beliefs and views on the matter, and always will. I will always hate human beings for inflicting such pain on innocent animals, and I will always hate humans for believing that they cannot feel.

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Article: India: Train Crushes Elephants Trying to Protect Young              New York Times

In an article written by Agence France-Presse featured in the New York Times, a herd of wild asian elephants were run over by  a speeding cargo train in India. The causes of the incident were the elephants' attempt to save two of their calves, who had become trapped in the tracks of the oncoming locomotive, and the . A large portion of the herd was killed, including the young elephants. It is said that the remainder of the herd was still lingering on the scene the following day, keeping the dead and wounded company.

The area in which this tragedy occurred, a heavily forested region of northern West Bengal State, is known to be an elephant corridor (a narrow stretch of land that allows elephants to travel from one habitat to another). According to the article, there have been 20 elephant deaths in the region within little over a year. 

While reading this article, it occurred to me how prominent the conflict between humans and elephants is. Throughout history humans have stolen land from one another and encroached upon the territories of others. However, we have not limited our greed and insatiable appetite for more to just our own species. We have stolen the habitats and homes of various flora and fauna as well. I find it staggering that such a physically weak specimen of nature can inflict so much destruction upon the homes of millions of creatures with whom we share our planet. Although there are many individuals and organizations working towards the common goal of equilibrium between nature and what we call civilization, the fruits of their labor are very rarely acknowledged by the public. The vast majority of people simply do not care about the conflicts faced by rural communities and nature. There is very rarely any news in the media regarding the overlapping habitats of humans and wild animals, and the ongoing war over territory. It was a dream of mine as a little girl that someday animals and humans would live in peace, however I don't see that dream coming true in the near future. 

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In 5 Weeks, 200 Elephants Slaughtered

Article: Cameroon: 200 Elephants Killed in Park               New York Times
           

            According to a recent article in the New York Times, over 200 elephants were maimed and slaughtered by poachers in the Bouba Ndjida National Park, which is located in Cameroon. This was a record attack on African elephants, which are considered an endangered species, causing many to worry about the protection of these animals. The International Fund for Animal Welfare has prompted the government to take action in order to ensure the safety of these creatures. The poachers are suspected to have been from Sudan, supplying Asian and European customers with elephant ivory. What troubles me the most about this appalling incident is the safeguard and protection of the orphaned calves. What will become of them? Without the proper guidance and support of a herd, these juvenile elephants will either die or mature into rowdy, uncontrollable pests. This will only bring about an increase in elephant attacks on villages and farms and the destruction of their precious crops, which in turn will instigate more violence against elephants. Are the poachers blissfully unaware of the damage that they are causing, both now and to the future? Or are they aware and simply choose to ignore the fact that they are slowly trashing the existence of these animals. How can people so cruel as to mutilate another living being? I wonder if these people are immune to the elephants’ shrieks of agony as their tusks are cut out of their skulls, or to the cries of a baby as it witnesses its mother being hacked to pieces and butchered for her anatomy. I understand that the majority of these people are uneducated and must find a means to support their families. I understand that desperate times call for desperate measures, but how desperate would someone have to be to resort to mass murder? The greed and madness of this world will eventually consume itself, and I will be glad when that day arrives, because there will finally be an end to the madness and suffering inflicted by the human race. 


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Elephant Nature Park

           This past winter vacation I travelled to Thailand, one of my favorite places in the world to visit, with my mother. The sole purpose of our trip was for volunteer work at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, which was run by a small woman by the name of Sangduen Chailert, or Lek. Despite her looks, Lek is incredibly strong-willed and inspiring and has dedicated her entire life to the much-needed salvation of Thailand’s elephants. After the government imposed a ban on logging in 1989, over 30,000 elephants were stranded and unemployed. The elephants no longer held any purpose in the lives of their mahouts and were either sold or set loose, which has led to many elephants wreaking havoc on farmers, destroying crops and plantations. This has instilled hatred amongst the Thais towards the very animals that had helped build their historic kingdom. Those of the Thai elephants that were sold found work in illegal logging businesses or were exploited as entertainers in circuses, beggars in Bangkok’s busy streets, and rides for ignorant tourists. Unfortunately, the elephants’ legal rights are equal to that of livestock, and so these majestic animals are often abused in unimaginably horrible ways, both physically and mentally, without any consequences. The plight of these gentle giants has caught the attention and compassion of Lek.

            In 1996 Lek and her husband founded the Elephant Nature Park and the park has since become a blissful sanctuary for 35 elephants. Visitors of the park have the option of either touring for a day, or volunteering for a week or more. My mom and I decided it would be an enriching experience to volunteer at the park before I returned to school and worked there for four days. While we were there we had to shovel elephant dung, cut grass and corn for the elephants’ daily meals, wash the tons of fruits that they consumed, and then collect firewood for the massive bonfires that kept them warm on cool nights. Although the work was extremely exhausting and demanding, it was immensely rewarding. The great respect and admiration I have for these beautiful, terribly misunderstood animals grew exponentially. During bathing and feeding time we were allowed to stand face-to-face with the giants, and being so close allowed us volunteers to connect with them on a more personal level. One of the privileges of being a volunteer was that we were taken on an “Elephant Walk”, which was a tour that showed us around the entire park to each elephant and their shelter. Some of the elephants’ bodies had been so badly broken that they had difficulty walking and they were so psychologically scarred by years of torture that, although they had been at the park for years, they were still skittish and mistrusting of humans.

There were two elephants that stood out to me the most, partly because their injuries were so obvious, and partly because that even after all the misery humans had caused them, they were still willing to forgive and love again. As the saying goes, “an elephant always forgives, but never forgets.” One of the elephants had been working for an illegal logging company when Lek found her. She had been forced to carry mammoth logs up mountains, all while she was pregnant. One day, while she was working, she went into labor but was forced to keep on. She was nearly at the top of the mountain when she finally gave birth to her baby. It was a steep slope and massive trunks were chained to her, so she was unable to stop her newborn from tumbling downhill to its death. You would think that her mahout would give her a break after the loss of her calf, however she was put to work almost immediately. She was severely depressed and refused to work, so her mahout repeatedly slingshot stones at her eyes and gouged them with sticks. This abuse caused her blindness. The other elephant had been used as a breeding vessel. She was chained up and raped by bulls in order to produce calves that would eventually complete the malicious cycle that humans have created. The elephant had resisted and fought back during one of the breeding sessions and was severely injured by the much larger bull, leaving her entire lower body crushed. When Lek found her she had an awkward gait and one leg would dangle limply above the ground. Lek eventually hassled the mahouts into selling her the decrepit elephants and they were integrated into the ENP herd with Lek leading as the matriarch.

My experience at Elephant Nature Park has been one of the most incredible times of my life, and I was glad to have had my mother there with me. The work there taught me how hard and demanding it is to support these giants, and that although they appear dangerous and intimidating they are actually the exact opposite. They are sensitive animals that require constant care and compassion, and if you are lucky enough they will be more than willing to reciprocate. It saddens me to see these animals being so cruelly mistreated and to see how little is being done for their cause. I hope that in the near future the elephants of Thailand will once more be able to live in peace with their people and continue to help build their country. 


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