Nelly and Brigit, two other victims of the circus show industry
Nelly and Brigit were captured in 1971 in Asia. For 47 years, they have been tossed from town to town by truck, waiting for hours on parking lots and vacant plots, without real bedding, or free access to water for drinking or splashing. Nothing is done for them to have a life resembling the life of an elephant.
Nelly and Brigit were captured in 1971 in Asia. For 47 years, they have been tossed from town to town by truck, waiting for hours on parking lots and vacant plots, without real bedding, or free access to water for drinking or splashing. Nothing is done for them to have a life resembling the life of an elephant.
The circus shows using animals are sold to us as the perpetuation of an ancient tradition, a culture, even. We are being sold the image of a “family”, but we only see poor elephants torn from an early age from their only true family in nature where they lived free. Now they are kept as elephants suffering a life of pain, fear, stress and hindrance.
All of this is for humans to take advantage of the spectacle and of their domination.
Because it’s all about that: the images we shot show Nelly and Brigit prevented from walking normally, forced to wade through their droppings, on the tarmac ground damaging their feet and their joints. No free access to water, it is rationed, given by the good will of their jailers. Their natural need to protect their skin, covering themselves with dust is prevented: they are brushed with a kind of broom, no mud bath is offered to them. No protection or shade is provided.
When they do not feed, they display swaying movements, a sign of their deep boredom, of their state of suffering. The absence of exercise weakens their legs, which, without muscles, hardly support the weight of their body. This is where most infections come from.
During the show, they suffer is a series of spikes (from the ankus), on all the sensitive areas of the head, the mouth, the ears, the trunk, the legs, the hindquarters … It is also with the use of a spade that the trainer coerces them from the enclosure to the big top, and he does not even hide it during the show. Nelly like Brigit performs under duress, not at all voluntary. Their movements are slow in the middle of the crowd, loud music, and blinding spot lights. We can clearly see their fear of the ankus and the sudden movements of their trainer. And for good reason!
The repeated blows during the few minutes of the show, allow us to imagine the terrible use that is made of this instrument outside the track and the view of spectators.
We filed a complaint for each of them. Like Maya, they deserve a real life, far from the spikes, in a protected place, where they can walk in nature, drink and bathe at leisure, listen to the wind and birds, and choose their activities.
Our partner sanctuaries offer their help to welcome them.