Elephant Torture

I know with war at hand and plague and starvation happening around the world this issue may seem trivial but it really pisses me off.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Dec23.html

NGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) - Bound and dragged from his mother into a crude wooden enclosure, 3-year-old Plai Boonsom screams as he is beaten on head and body with metal hooks.

The ritual, carried out daily for up to a week, is part of a young Thai elephant's training by villagers for a working life entertaining tourists in Thailand and has been secretly videotaped by animal rights activists.

"Our footage shows elephants covered with wounds, blood, bruises...and back of the legs covered with diarrhea as a result of the fear and stress," said Jason Baker, Asia representative for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

PETA used the video to launch a global campaign this month urging tourists to boycott Thailand, hoping to hit the country where it hurts and force the government to ban the tethering of elephants and their use in tourist shows.

But PETA's findings have been challenged by conservationists and the Thai government, which says the group is promoting a one-sided campaign about the treatment of elephants, Thailand's national symbol.

Conservationists and the government say there are few alternatives to domestication or living in captivity for the country's estimated 4,000 elephants.

In a word, space is the issue.

The elephants' natural habitat is disappearing fast, eaten away by rapid urbanization, greater demands for resources and a growing human population.

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I don't think the issue at hand was 'domestication' but rather humane treatment. How can the fact that their running out of space justify the torture of these benevolent creatures. elephants are extreamly bright and these methods are not necessary....what a way to treat your national symbol.