Thailand's Elephant "Crushing" Ritual It's a sound not easily
forgotten. Just before dawn in the remote highlands of northern
Thailand, west of the village Mae Jaem, a four-year-old elephant
bellows as seven village men stab nails into her ears and feet.
She is tied up and immobilized in a small, wooden cage. Her
cries are the only sounds to interrupt the otherwise quiet
countryside. The cage is called a "training crush." It's the
centerpiece of a centuries-old ritual in northern Thailand
designed to domesticate young elephants. In addition to
beatings, handlers use sleep-deprivation, hunger, and thirst to
"break" the elephants' spirit and make them submissive to their
owners. "The people believe that to control the animal they have
to do something to make the elephant feel fear and pain," said
Sangduen "Lek" Chailert, a well-known Chiang-Mai-based activist
who runs Jumbo Express, a program bringing free veterinary care
to these animals. She's an outspoken critic of the crush. Video
at PETA: Torture in Thaila