ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST ELEPHANT POLO MATCH

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Prakash Bhandari

*[ 18 Nov, 2006 0247hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]*

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JAIPUR: An elephant polo match scheduled to be held on Saturday at the

city's Rambagh polo ground has invited the wrath of animal activists.

 

Sporting elephant masks and dressed like jail-birds on Friday, activists of

animal protection groups like PETA, GSPCA, Ranjith For Animals and RAW among

others raised placards to protest against the polo match which is like

watching traditional horseback polo in slow motion.

 

Ironically, the event sponsored by Cartier the target of activist ire is a

fund raiser organised by the London-based Elephant Family, which works for

elephant welfare, and Help In Suffering (HIS) of Jaipur. The money raised is

to go towards protecting and saving the pachyderm.

 

The animal welfare groups have criticised the scheduled match saying it was

cruel to elephants. The groups, which raised banners like 'Cartier: Time to

Stop Elephant Cruelty' outside Central Park, want the sponsor to stop the

abuse of the animal.

 

Though animal activists are up in arms, government officials see no reason

to stop the match. In fact, the Rajasthan government's tourism department

also organises elephant polo matches in the Pink City during its annual

elephant festival at the city's Chaughan Stadium.

 

Recently, for entertainment of cricket teams participating in the Champions

Trophy, an elephant polo match was organised and some English players took

part in it.

 

A forest department official said: " The wildlife wing of the department does

not intend to stop the match, as there is nothing wrong in making elephants

play polo. " The official said no cruelty of any kind has been noticed in the

past whenever such matches have been organised in the past.

 

The show is the brainchild of Mark Shand, brother-in-law of Charles, Duke of

Windsor, who insists that no cruelty is being done to the elephants to

perform for the Saturday show.

 

PETA's chief Anuradha Sawhney, however, said, " The protest comes on the

heels of a meeting between PETA and Cartier in London, during which the

group's representatives showed undercover footage of inhumane treatment of

elephants in India some were the very same elephants who will be used in the

polo match. "