Elephants are taken care very well in Kerala.....But there are few cases otherwise, which are normally noted and taken care, both by govt agencies and also by activists.......
Elephants are an important part in our culture and our celebrations........there are activists who look at one side of the coin, and start saying everything is bad... .May be like going to dharavi and concluding entire mumbai is a slum.......Yes there is dharavi, but then that is a small percentage....
The relationship between mahout and the elephant is a very emotional one, and i have few experience which i will never forget in my life........... Most of them love their elephants like their children, and treat them like one......
But like in every profession, there are morons, who are drunkards and some time they assume themselves to be more powerful than the elephant since he listen to his orders...... Such guys are either thrown out of the profession or they are killed by the elephant itself...... These guys tend to forget that elephant is a wild animal.....
Over a period of time the authorities have put strict rules to avoid issues like OP.... and there are association for elephant owner's, they themselves take care of issues in case reported......
Elephant owners are rich guys, and they keep these elephants because they love them, they are part of their family and thats how they treat them...... I do not know how many knows there are Virat Kohli/Sachin tendulkar/Ronaldo/Woods kind of stars among elephants, For example, "Mangalamkunnu Karnan" "Thechikottukavu Ramachandran:" "Guruvayoor Valiya Keshavan" are the star elephants, in kerala, They have their star values like film stars and cricketers.......
The most important elephant owner's in kerala are the temple bodies..... for example, Guruvayoor temple has around 54 elephants with them, and they have a seperate department to take care of them..... and any one can go and see how they are taken care by buying a 5 rupee ticket...... and Normally those temples which own an elephant are rich ones, and they take care of them very well..... and not only that the devotees and elephant lovers contribute too......
I guess we should stop looking at the bad part and pass judgement, based on it..... At the same time, such bad treatments need to be highlighted so that the guilty one's are taken care and such issues do not repeat........
Dear Madam, I have seen few of your posts in this thread, Do not pass judgement based on looking at one part of the coin.....
There are these animal activists brigade, just like our street dog saga....... Most of them look for fame...... But one good part of them is, the real issues are not pushed under carpet, and they are reported with more than enough importance and such issues are addressed........
There are several new rules are put in place, of late and these rules are regularly amended..... None of us (mallus, be it hindu, muslim or christian) want to see an elephant suffering....... They are part of our culture and we as a community love them the most......