by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 10:00 AM ET, Wed October 4, 2017
A New York-based tour operator will no longer offer elephant rides as part of its India itineraries.
In a joint statement issued today by smarTours and PETA, the travel company announced that elephant rides will end effective immediately after learning of cruelty to elephants in the country including exhausted elephants being forced to trudge uphill in blistering summer heat while their feet are burning and tourists are on their back. The rides have been part of smarTours' India itineraries since the late 1990s.
"One of the goals at smarTours is to make a positive impact on the destinations we visit all over the world, and over time with the help of PETA, we have learned of the cruelty imposed on all elephants who are used for rides," smarTours co-CEO Greg Geronemus said in the statement.
"It has become clear that these rides are simply wrong and inconsistent with smarTours' values."
SmarTours co-CEO David Rosner added that removing elephant rides from the company's tours was the right thing to do and the company encouraged others in the industry to do the same.
Cruelty to elephants in the tour industry throughout Southeast Asia has been well documented over the years.
The region is known for engaging in a practice called "phajaan," which directly translated means "crushing" - as in crushing an elephant's spirit. This brutal practice is part of an effort to make elephants submissive to humans and suitable for a life spent entertaining and amusing tourists via elephant rides, treks, performing stunts at circuses or being paraded through the streets.
During the phajan or crushing process, an elephant is shackled and routinely bludgeoned, according to animal rights activists who have witnessed the process. Many elephants do not survive the horrific process. Nearly half die. Those who do survive often go crazy and have to be destroyed. And still, others later become aggressive, sometimes killing the mahouts who tend to them.
The move by smarTours to cease offering elephant rides is part of a growing trend among tour operators.
Last year a long list of travel agencies-including global operators like The Travel Corporation, Intrepid Travel, and TUI-have pledged not to include elephant rides, or shows with elephants, in their itineraries.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Why Are Tour Operators Canceling Elephant Rides?[/READMORE]
In agreeing to stop offering such activities, the agencies are no longer implicitly promoting and sanctioning cruelty to elephants.
This year PETA announced that even more companies have joined the cause, refusing to offer elephant rides, among them Costco Travel and TripAdvisor.
In its announcement, smarTours said elephant rides will be eliminated from all 18 scheduled India tours in 2017 and 2018.
"smarTours made the compassionate decision to reject the cruelty experienced by elephants in India who are forced to give rides," PETA Foundation Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders said in today's statement.
"PETA encourages kind people everywhere to support businesses that share its values and never profit from the exploitation and abuse of wild animals."
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