NSPCA vows to take matter further after court decision on training methods used
A DECISION to decline prosecution for cruelty to elephants has caused welfare organisations and elephant experts to call for a rethink on the legal definition of cruelty.
The NSPCA has refused to accept a decision by the Grahamstown director of public prosecutions, Advocate JC Coetzee, who said he was not persuaded that the training methods used at Elephants of Eden constituted cruel treatment.
The NSPCA said it would pursue the case with the National Prosecuting Authority.
It laid a criminal complaint last year after it received video footage of handlers using cruel training techniques at Elephants of Eden in Alexandria, a sister facility of Knysna Elephant Park. Lisette Withers owns both. Elephant experts said the decision to decline prosecution had been based on outdated legislation and a misconception of cruelty.
“If the prosecutor could not find cruelty in the evidence, then we need to redefine ‘cruel’ in our laws to reflect a contemporary understanding of what forms cruelty can take,” Dr Mandy Lombard, of the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, said.
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