Elephants: After reading the jataka of the Great Elephant, I was curious as to traditional beliefs towards elephants as this story depicts the elephant as extremely kind, wise, and caring for humans. What I learned is that elephants have been important in the history of India such as in war. In the Buddhist story of
Gautama Buddha's mother, Maya, she dreamt she would give birth to an elephant, and the interpretation was that the child would be great. So elephants were obviously seen as important and great, a positive symbol.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act: In 1960, India's Parliament passed a law to stop cruelty to animals. It was particularly rumored that working elephants were subjected to abuse. This however does not exclude killing animals if for a religious purpose.
People for Animals Uttarakhand: This organization was founded in 1992 with the goal of protecting animals from cruel abuses. They have inspected many different cases and pushed for stronger restrictions such as animal birth control on breeding dogs. They had a case where a visually impaired elephant was forced to work commercial rides, so sad!
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi: Maneka Gandhi is a political animal rights activist in India She has been a part of the Indian government since the 90's and was married to a politician who died in 1980. She is an animal rights activist and also fights for children and women, though she has been criticized recently for some gender-biased comments.
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