Tessa Lanham

#AdoptDontShop #animalrescue

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@Arunz3fv @SigneSol0 @PetaIndia Which God asked (demanded) that people imprison any animal?

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@SigneSol0 @PetaIndia OMG this poor elephant. A life of captivity then freedom now captivity again and back into the very situation that has caused all her trauma. It’s unconscionable what is being done to her. Shame on all involved. She is a living being not an object.

[Action for Primates @Action4Primates]

Action needed: If you are a UK citizen or resident, please help end cruel, outdated animal toxicity tests like these by asking your MP to sign Early Day Motion 465 calling for the government to urgently deliver its Replacing Animals in Science Strategy. https://t.co/NHOLg2rheW

[Kamna Pandey 🌱 @PandeyKamna]

Captive-bred does not mean captivity is what she deserves.

Durga is still an elephant calf - a five-year-old baby being separated from her mother, her family and her social world.

Providing food is mere survival. She needs her mother’s trunk-touch to reassure her, her family to learn how to be an elephant. She deserves to grow up as one.

Now ask what it takes to turn that baby into the perfectly ‘disciplined’ temple elephant - obedient to commands, standing still amidst chaos and drumbeats, blessing devotees and walking compliantly through processions.

How is that obedience achieved? What restraint and training will she undergo? Will she be chained? Will an ankush be used? Will she be beaten as in so many viral videos of ‘training’ we have all seen ?

And then comes a lifetime where she cannot choose when to walk, when to bathe, what to forage, when to rest or whom to interact with.

That is not raising an elephant. It is taking away everything that makes an elephant an elephant.

Research found 49% of the temple elephants displayed severe stress symptoms repetitive swaying, head-bobbing, trunk swaying, weight shifting from one leg to another - often seen as ‘happy dancing’ but is actually ‘stereotypic repetitive behaviour’ - a recognised sign of psychological distress in captive elephants.

Elephants are sacred to us. That makes our responsibility towards their well being even greater. Not use that as an alibi to exploit them as display objects.

Not one श्रुति, स्मृति or आगम mandates keeping a living elephant captive in a temple.

This is not Sanatan Dharma. Compassion and respect for all living beings is.

If we truly worship the elephant, let our reverence protect her - not imprison her. If you’re worried about ‘bad’ conditions in Assam, move the family to a better place, protected - but natural habitat. And yes, #Vantara is any day a better option than a shackled life in a temple.

Durga does not need another owner. She needs an elephant’s life.
Let Durga grow up with elephants. Let Durga be an elephant.

@CNNnews18

#SaveDurga #EndElephantCaptivity #TempleElephants #sanatanadharma

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@DrTOMontgomery One person did this? FFS.

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@Curt661749 @TheEquinesVoice @amNewYork @nypost @nytimes @NYDailyNews @TWULocal100 @NYCMayor You’re probably right about that. What had he done so far?

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@puja_0021 Happy? To be back in captivity? No.

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@parvathimenon Exactly, good point. How is this still legal in 2026 and still happening? That’s a baby (in elephant years)!!

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@YSaghal @Uppolice @dgpup Oh that poor elephant. His leg!!!!! He needs help. What about all the elephants? Where can they go away from this life of misery and suffering?

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@dilthi_gujarati @pvs000 @PetaIndia @AwbiBallabhgarh Poor baby. Only 5 days old??!!!!!!!! Brutal.

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@pvs000 @PetaIndia @AwbiBallabhgarh Elephants have no place in these festivals. Decades ago someone decided including an elephant was a great idea, abused it to be compliant, called it ‘tradition’. It’s not. So a great idea is to phase them out forever and leave them alone. ✅

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@vagitableunited Definitely abnormal behaviour. 💔 What is the zoo doing about it?

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@joey_tuccio These poor poor dogs … it’s a tragedy 💔💔💔💔💔

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@karishmahasnat Poor little elephant. I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve that life at all 💔

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@domdyer70 Please God they haven’t been forgotten and action for them happens immediately. Why isn’t it safe to move them? What’s the danger?

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@MoishesMom @deblancasterco1 @NYCACC So awful. Sounds like she didn’t even get a chance. RIP Coco 💔

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@Rohitskaziranga This is horrific! The pain and suffering that elephant endures. It can’t walk! That man was born an innocent soul but this is how he chooses to live as an adult? Being cruel to an elephant? Yuk.

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@aryanfemcelx @peta @hm @CFDA True enough. She was disrupting the show to make her point and he was angry. Understand that. But holding her down and covering her mouth is excessive when all that needed to happen was for security to evict her. He looks like a jerk. He may not care either!

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@ECOWARRIORSS Oh no no no 😭 What are humans doing to this planet??

[Tessa Lanham @Tesla_Lan]

@Protect_Wldlife Nothing is beautiful about this video. That poor elephant …