MICHAEL METELITS and ROB DAVIES, Brits | Tuesday, 1.25pm.
BY midday Tuesday a few people have gathered across from the African Game Services centre in Skeerpoort where the Tuli elephants are currently held in an impromptu demonstration. While participants said “private concerned individuals” have organised the protest, they also indicated that more demonstrators are expected later in the day.
Thursday 11.00am:
THE International Fund for Animal Welfare has called on the government to immediately intervene to rescue the Tuli 14 – the 14 baby elephants bought from Botswana’s Tuli Block which have been continuously mistreated at a Brits game company since 1998.
The call comes amid a huge public outcry after a television documentary on Sunday night showed ‘trainers’ using ropes and sticks fitted with hooks and nails to beat the captive animals at the African Game Services farm near Brits.
Sarah Scarth, IFAW’s South Africa director, said evidence of grotesque and continuing cruelty is overwhelming and the time has now come for direct government intervention. “At the moment we are sending the worst possible message to the international community,” she said.
“The world is getting the impression that South Africa is incapable of preventing horrific levels of cruelty to continue unabated month after month, even though the courts have ruled the treatment inhumane. The government must act to protect our good name,” Scarth said.
Scarth said that IFAW is writing to the Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa and Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza asking them to ensure pending court action to determine the fate of the elephants to heard immediately.
“Only ministerial intervention can help these elephants while this case finds its way through the courts,” Scarth noted.
“Everybody is looking for a temporary place where the elephants can be safely held,” she added, “since from our perspective there is clear evidence of mistreatment and cruelty.” On 14 October last year the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals was granted custody of the elephants to prevent further suffering. The owner of the organisation currently in possession of the elephants, African Game Services, appealed against the court order obtained by the NSPCA and still no date has yet been set for the criminal charges to be heard.
Scarth defended the NSPCA against criticism for inaction, saying “the time and evidence required to build a case made quick action difficult, and the films were acquired at great risk to the inspectors.”
The 14 elephants are part of a contingent of 30 juvenile elephants that were captured in the Tuli Game reserve in 1998 and take to African Game Services in Brits to undergo “Mahout-style” training. This facility is owned by Riccardo Ghiazza, who planned to export the elephants to zoos, safari parks and entertainment facilities overseas. In September 1998, the NSPCA laid criminal charges against African Game Services under the Animals Protection Act no 71 of 1962 for ill-treatment of the elephants.