Teresa Bastian, who resides on the Luxembourg-Belgium border, has called for international support in the continued fight against elephant exploitation in India.
Teresa first visited Rajasthan in India in 2011 when recovering from illness, where she committed her life to saving elephants from cruelty. In addition to having set up the elephant rescue project "Rescued by Angels" in Jaipur, she has spent the last two years working on a project run by the Tree Foundation and the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC). Her work relates to involvement in the "A Hand to Give" social, welfare and educational project in India.
As part of the project, locals were employed and the centre was gradually becoming more sustainable. According to Teresa, her role includes "passing on the word and educating people when it comes to ethical travel and that the domestication of elephants no longer has a place in society".
In this regard, she (and a few other individuals) is trying to raise awareness of an incident that occurred on Friday 27 September 2019: three former temple elephants were forcibly and violently removed from their rehabilitation and care facility in Tamil Nadu, India. The elephants suffered severe trauma and their caregivers have been denied access to inspect them at their new location.
The individuals involved in this appeal for international action share the values of equitable justice, the wellbeing of animals and fair and due process being accorded to all. They are Teresa Bastian from A Hand to Give, Gay Bradshaw and Michele Franko from The Kerulos Centre, John Flynn from Wildseas Conservation and Audrey Gaffney, an animal welfare advocate.
