Jumbos tortured at Pooram, say animal rights activists

As many as 79 elephants are being tortured by making the pachyderms stand in direct sunlight as part of the 36-hour-long festival, they said. A team of six veterinarians, appointed by AWBI, were collectively prevented by officials of state Animal Husbandry and Forest Departments along with Thrissur District Collector and police on Saturday, VK Venkitachalam, secretary of Heritage Animal Task Force, an animal rights forum, alleged. 

He sent a letter to the Director, Project Elephant, under the Union government, demanding action against the officials for misuse of power. In the letter, he said the Supreme Court had ordered the Kerala government to reconstitute the district level elephant monitoring committee chaired by the Collector by adding a new member nominated by AWBI for each district in Kerala.

The apex court had also reiterated that any elephant parade in each district must be approved by such a newly constituted district level elephant monitoring committee, the letter said.