Twenty two production houses and content creators have pledged to stop using live elephants in their projects, following an appeal from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.
PETA India informed the entertainment industry that elephants used in films, television, advertisements, and other media are “forcibly separated from their families, endure abusive training methods, and [are] chained when not in use.”
In response, companies associated with John Abraham, R Balki, Gauri Shinde, Daggubati Suresh Babu, Shrikant Mohta, Mahendra Soni, Nikkhil Advani, Arfi Laamba, Farah Khan, Pooja Bhatt, Dia Mirza, Richa Chadha, Ali Fazal, Sunny Leone and Daniel Weber, among others, have signed the organisation’s Elephant Freedom Pledge.
To replace live animals on set, PETA India is promoting the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI), visual effects, and advanced mechanical elephants. These lifelike models—already in use across more than 20 temples in South India—can “flap their ears, swish their tails, lift their trunks, spray water, and even carry riders.”
“Elephants are highly intelligent, social animals who need to be with their families in nature for their well-being, but those forced to perform for film, television, advertisements and other content are denied everything that is natural and important to them and are controlled with violence,” said PETA India Corporate Affairs Liaison Umang Sharma in a statement.
“PETA India urges all forms of film and other content creators to join these stars in signing the Elephant Freedom Pledge on behalf of their production companies. We also remind audiences to refuse to support entertainment involving cruelty to animals,” Sharma added.
PETA India has previously recognised filmmakers who opted for cruelty-free production practices. In 2022, Fish Eye Network’s Pooja Bhatt received the Compassionate Film Production Company Award for becoming India’s first film director to publicly pledge against the use of live animals. Director Richie Mehta also won the Tech, Not Terror Award for employing CGI in his acclaimed series Poacher, which centres on an elephant ivory-poaching ring.