OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 8.00pm.
THE NSPCA has been given court permission to seize 30 young elephants whose training in captivity at Hartebeespoort near Johannesburg has created controversy around the world.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals won an urgent interdict against African Game Services, the company which owns the elephants, on the grounds that they were mistreating the animals.
The executive director of the NSPCA, Marcelle French, said the group will remove the elephants from the company premises some 50km north of Johannesburg on Thursday. The interim order granted in the Brits Magistrate’s Court allows the SPCA to look after the elephants until a case of cruelty brought against the owners is decided by the courts.
Should the company be found not guilty of cruelty, the elephants will be returned. The animals, which come from the Tuli region in Botswana, have been handled by Indonesian animal trainers for some 10 weeks, and were destined to be sold to zoos and reserves once they had been tamed. — AFP