Elephant Spent Entire Life In Chains
Having a love for animals seems to be a universal feeling that many people experience, often on a daily basis. There are certain types of animals that we may love from afar but others tend to find their way into our hearts very quickly. One of the ways in which we may see this is when we discover that animals are being treated cruelly by humans. Sometimes we may see this with dogs or cats but it can also happen with larger animals, such as elephants. They are very kind and compassionate animals so when they are treated cruelly, it affects our emotions.
An older elephant was found who was wearing spiked shackles and he was covered in blood because of his captivity. He was also far too skinny for being such a large animal. He would get handouts from people who would pass by on occasion and sometimes he would even eat the paper or plastic that the food was wrapped in. The elephant was living a miserable life.
Raju is the name of the elephant and he had been held captive for 50 years. For those five decades, he had been sold some 27 times and it appeared as if he was giving up hope. He was captured when he was very young and never knew life outside of captivity. It did seem as if he knew that it wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.
Raju would beg for food from passing tourists and sometimes, they would toss coins in his direction. It was a torturous and humiliating existence. More than likely, he thought that things would change but change wasn’t going to happen quickly.
Wildlife SOS, a North London based charity found out about what happened with this elephant and decided to take action. A team of 10 strong wildlife experts and veterinarians showed up with 20 individuals from the forestry department and six policemen. They rescued the elephant at night so that no one would interfere.
Raju was in the process of being freed and they noticed that he was crying.
“The team was astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue. It was so incredibly emotional for all of us. We knew in our hearts he realized he was being freed.”
Another issue came up when his owner was trying to keep him from leaving.
“He began to shout commands to terrify Raju — and try to provoke him. It created an incredibly dangerous situation as a bull elephant could snap a human like a tooth pick if he becomes afraid or angry. When that failed he then put a series of chains around his legs in an attempt to prevent us removing him, so viciously tight that they were cutting into his legs.”
The rescue group continued to fight for the elephant. They knew that they had to go above and beyond to ensure that he was free. The doctors began cutting the shackles from his legs.
They arrived at the sanctuary just past midnight. The other elephants at the sanctuary welcomed him immediately. Raju was Finally Free.
“It will be a long rehabilitation process, but we will teach him that humans don’t mean pain and brutality, but it’s going to take time,” said Mr. Satyanarayan.
One more elephant will be able to spend his life safe inside of a compound.
You can see the video of the rescue here:
