Elephant cried as he was rescued from 50 years of torture

http://travel.aol.co.uk/2014/07/07/elephant-weeps-rescued-50-years-of-torture-india/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D277026

I'm trying really hard not to cry at this. That poor thing!

It's well worth the read. He has a happy ending.

Glad he ha gone somewhere he can at least have peace in his golden years.
The elephants in India have a very raw deal. I saw a documentary once on how they start to train the babies to haul logs.
It's Stokholm Syndrome that makes those elephants work IMAO.

That, and pure fear. They don't know, or have the spirit left to do, any different.

How anybody could abuse an animal is just beyond my imagination, let alone such a majestic, intelligent animal. Elephants are far more emotionally similar to humans than most animals. We could learn so much from just watching them.

I try not to anthromorphise animals so suspect that Raju's tears were stress induced.

But I am SO glad that he has been freed from his torture - are those spiked shackles legal in India? Absolutely disgusting.

Poor elephant - I hope he enjoys the rest of his days in peace and contentment.

Elephants can actually cry, Lynda! Surprising, but true.

Legal or not, who is there to stop them?

Research has pointed to elephants being one of the few animals that can actually cry!

Eleanor wrote:
Legal or not, who is there to stop them?

That, unfortunately, is true. The authorities either don't see it, or turn a blind eye - it's just an elephant after all.  

And they make such a vast amount of money for Mahouts via tourism, not many people want to risk losing that.

That as well.

I really can't abide animal cruelty!  

Me neither.