PETA founder meets Tourism Minister Alphons, seeks ban on elephant rides

NEW DELHI: PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk met Tourism Minister K J Alphons today and submitted 63,000 digitally-signed appeals from tourists requesting a ban on elephant rides, the animal rights organisation said.

The appeals were signed last week, after a video showing an elephant used in tourism being beaten so hard that the animal's leg broke spread across the globe.

"Earlier this week, PETA supporters...took part in a demonstration calling for a ban on elephant rides," the statement from PETA said.

Alphons watched the video during the meeting with the PETA founder and assured her that he would put his office to good use to prevent cruelty to elephants.

"Representing tourists from all over the world, who would rather take home photographs of elephants living in nature than memories of a trip ruined by the sight of broken beasts, it was heartening to hear the minister express his compassion and respect for the plight of these social, intelligent and sensitive beings and pledge to help," Newkirk said.

PETA said that Alphons has assured Newrick that he will issue an advisory to state governments and union territories on the matter.

Earlier, the ministry had also received a letter from Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston requesting the minister to stop cruelty towards elephants.

According to figures compiled by the Heritage Animal Task Force, between 2001 and 2016, captive elephants killed more than 526 people in Kerala alone.

In 2016, the Animal Welfare Board of India issued an advisory to the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change in favour of a ban on training, exhibition and use of elephants for performances in India.

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