Cape Town - A spat over the wellbeing of elephants at a popular Knysna park is heating up, with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) intent on seeing the establishment punished for what it says is animal abuse.
However, prosecuting authorities recently found there were no grounds on which to charge management of the Knysna Elephant Park for ill treating animals.
But the NSPCA is adamant that elephants were abused there and are looking to take their plight to a higher legal authority to see the park held accountable for the ill treatment the organisation alleges occurred.
In turn, the park’s management plans to take legal action against the NSPCA because they believe the organisation is pushing the matter to get funding from people.
The saga started in May last year when the NSPCA lodged complaints of animal cruelty against Elephants of Eden, which falls under the Knysna Elephant Park.
On Friday, the NSPCA posted a message on Facebook about the matter and images of elephants they alleged were abused.
The post was shared thousands of times and scores of people vowed to boycott the park.
In the Facebook post the NSPCA said it had felt compelled to turn to authorities last year.
“This proved necessary after the NSPCA received horrific footage depicting the cruel and abusive training methods employed to control and train baby and young elephants for their future, captive lives in the elephant-based tourist industry.”
The organisation said the director of public prosecutions in Grahamstown had recently decided not to take the matter further as he could not be persuaded the training methods constituted cruel treatment or unnecessary torture.
“We are shocked and don’t feel that justice has been served.
“The elephants showed signs of severely swollen legs and feet, debilitating abscesses and wounds resulting from the abusive use of ropes, chains and bull hooks – injuries sustained at Elephants of Eden,” Isabel Wentzel, a senior inspector with the NSPCA, said.
Yesterday Wentzel told Weekend Argus the decision not to prosecute did not spell the end.
“We’re definitely not going to abide by this decision. We will take this further.”
But Knysna Elephant Park’s owner, Lisette Withers, yesterday accused the NSPCA of using the allegations to get money by playing on animal lovers’ emotions.
“The worse the story is, the more donations they get. We will most definitely take action against them.”
Weekend Argus understands this may be in the form of a damages claim.
Withers denied the elephants were ill treated. She said the elephants in the images circulated by the NSPCA allegedly had been abused in 2008 in Alexandria.
The elephants had belonged to the park, but were sold.and the staff of the businessman who bought them allegedly abused the animals on Elephants of Eden property Withers said Knysna Elephant Park had nothing to hide.
“Anybody that comes here can come and have a look. We have 18 volunteers who work with the elephants.”
She said guests staying at the park would notice any abuse, adding the elephants would not allow anyone who abused them to approach.
Weekend Argus
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