Don't watch "Water for elephants" :'(

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Link to full article and video
The ADI (Animal Defenders International) have released an under cover video from the company Have Trunk Will Travel that trains elephants for films and TV shows. The video shows the trainers beating the elephants into submission so they will perform their tricks.
This company provided the elephants for the new film "Water For Elephants", and while the American Humane Association (AHA) said that there was no abuse on set, AHA only check film sets and not the places where animals are trained.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the California Association of Zoos and Aquariums actually APPROVED the treatment of these elephants and the California AZA are in favour of using electric shocks and bullhooks!

The video itself, I warn you it's very sad: http://vimeo.com/23564589

I don't know why all this stuff still exists.

I wasn't planning on watching it anyway since it has Robert Pattinson in it.

I support not supporting it. However, I would recommend reading the book. It is wonderful. I doubt a film could do it justice anyway.

I will watch it if it sounds good. Just like the horror movie where you saw live turtle killing. I will watch movies with actors who in real life I hate such as Mel Gibson.

Wow, that sucks. Me and Muggs (my canine pal) hate animal abusers with a white-hot passion...

And the truth is, the lame title (no indications of comic-book heroes, explosions, or naked chicks) was probably enough to stop me from watching the movie, but now I REALLY won't watch it while I'm not watching it!

The book does look good. Part of the plot is to do with elephants being abused in a circus so what has happened to the elephants in real life is irony gone completely wrong.

Do you mean the plot of the movie? It's not really part of the book as far as I can remember. Maybe I'm wrong about that. It's about a veterinarian student who loses everything (family,money etc.) the week of final exams. He hops a train that turns out to be a circus train and stays on. It's set during the great Depression. The thing about the book is just that it's very well written and the characters are complex. Sometimes I think a well written book is doomed to failure when they try to translate it into film. I know someone who has refused to see the film because she says she knows it can't compare to the prose of the book. Some books are just like that. The writing just takes your breath away. Another of that ilk is Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. You just want to read the sentences over and over again, they're so nicely written ;but the movie they made out of it was meh.

There are two distinct issues here even thought the second only exists because of the first:

1) The exploitation of animals held in captivity for that specific purpose;
2) The handling and training of animals held in captivity for exploitation.

I used to travel with a circus, and I have done some handling of "Lisa", a young Indian elephant ...

... and even though I fully agree on the thought of animals not being held in captivity for exploitation, the handling and training you can see in that video is/was not abusive. Now yes, there were a few "whacks" of the "bull hook" that were unnecessarily "hard" (as done in frustration or because of "handler/trainer immaturity"), but even those "whacks" did not in any way actually cause any physical harm or pain to the elephant. If they had, you would have heard the elephant "cry out" in one way or another (and/or even turn and attack its handler/trainer).

Aside from all of that, however, and here returning to the real issue at hand:

Elephants are very "family oriented" and it is harmful to their overall psyche to be held in captivity for exploitative purpose/s beyond a typical and well-managed "natural home" in a well-run zoo.

Note: A well-trained and -disciplined handler/trainer will only ever "whack" an elephant at the top of its skull and directly from the front (to bring it to "Attention!" and never for any kind of punishment) where it is virtually impossible to cause any physical harm at all. Other than that, the pokes, prods or light taps you will see are simple "commands" just like when elephants and/or even people might "nudge" each other to get someone to "move up" (go forward) or to move out of the way or to "lie down for a bath" or whatever. And when an elephant might become constipated because of held-captive inactivity, the typical practice is to have them "roll over" a time or two (to again "loosen things up", and exactly as trained while still very young, and only for that specific purpose later on, if ever needed).

Note: The typical "circus elephant" you might ever see first learned its own "performance routine" while still very young, and absolutely anyone willing to do so could go into the show ring with that elephant and prompt it to again re-play that routine.

On wikipedia it says that one of the characters in the book abuses the elephant and is a bit of a psycho.

@leejosepho, I'm just pissed that the elephants are being made to do all these tricks in the first place. Also it doesn't matter how hard they're being whipped or hit, they are still being whipped! And many times for no reason at all, just being whipped. I'd understand if the elephant was going to attack but the elephant is doing nothing at all. I'd hate to be those elephants personally.

I agree 100%: Animals in well-managed "natural habitats" in zoos is one thing, but no animal (other than possibly a well-treated family pet) should ever be made to perform "tricks for hire" (outright exploitation). Nevertheless, I have seen elephants being mis-treated in abusive ways and that video does not even come close to anything like that.

Have you ever seen the clips from Chipperfield's Circus and Bobby Robert's Super Circus? They are heartbreaking, and while Have Trunk Will Travel have upset me quite a lot nothing compared to those other 2 circuses.

No, I have not seen those, but I can easily believe your report of them.

The very best handler I have ever seen was the owner's son in the circus where I worked -- "Jeff" never struck "Lisa" in any kind of punitive manner ... and of course (as trained by him), neither did I. And then, an old guy named "Ozzie" always made sure "Lisa" was being fed properly and exercised just as much as possible while we were out on the road.

Funny story: We once pulled into a circus lot and got "Lisa" down out of her trailer stall ... and she immediately took off running for a nearby creek she had smelled ... and then a few of us "roustabouts" jumped right on in there with her and had a great ol' time splashing water all around!

Edit: Oh, and our bunkhouse was in the front of "Lisa's" trailer, so now I can say I used to sleep with an elephant!

That's good to hear. From what I've heard it's pretty rare for circuses to treat their animals that well.