Plea to euthanise temple elephant

A writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking permission to euthanise Suguvaneswarar Temple elephant Rajeswari in Salem district since it had been suffering for a long time due to several medical issues, including abscess on her right hip and elbow as well as arthritis.

The first Division Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose on Friday directed S.P. Maharajan, counsel for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, to obtain instructions from the temple management on the health condition of the 38-year-old elephant and apprise the court by Monday.

The direction was issued on the petition filed by S. Muralidharan, an animal lover, who claimed that the elephant could not be cured despite treatment provided by several veterinarians. In the process, absurd methods such as attempts to lift the elephant with the help of a crane were carried out by the temple management, he claimed.

On one occasion, the elephant was dropped from the crane and it led to breaking of her tusk and limb, he added. Contending that it was not appropriate to subject the animal to such pain, the petitioner said that keeping it alive would be in violation of Section 13(3) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of

Despite all this, the elephant had been subjected to various “terrible” treatments till date, the petitioner said. He added that keeping the animal alive in this condition was a violation of section13 (3) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960 which authorises government officials to “destroy” mortally injured animals.