After videos showing an elephant screaming in pain while being ruthlessly beaten by various handlers emerged, Paul McCartney sent a letter to the Indian government requesting that officials immediately move her to a reputable rescue center.
The Beatles icon wrote the letter on behalf of animal rights organization PETA's Indian chapter.
McCartney denounced not just the beatings but also the solitary confinement in which the elephant, named Jeymalyatha, is being kept.
The condition is especially cruel since elephants in nature form strong bonds and live in matriarchal family herds, McCartney noted.
"I trust you agree that Jeymalyatha has suffered more than enough, and that she deserves to spend the rest of her time on this Earth away from her abusive trainers, rehabilitating, and with others of her kind," McCartney says in the letter addressed to Bhupender Yadav, India's Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The rock star recalls his visit to India in the 1960s during which he was impressed by the country's cultural love for animals.
"I know India reveres elephants, its national heritage animal, but cruelty to animals happens everywhere, even in India. What reflects on a country's values is how that cruelty is addressed," he wrote.
(Photo: Raphael Pour-Hashemi)
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