Like most animal loving saps such as myself, I fell in love with animals from watching Disney movies when I was younger. I first fell in love with dogs from watching The Fox and the Hound (I still cry when they say good bye for the last time and say they'll always be friends forever.) I dreamt of being smothered in pups a la 101 Dalmatians, and I guess that dream came true when I helped my dad open up a dog daycare & boarding business. Now when I visit, I get my pick of over 100 dogs to play with! And our first family dog was an adorable cocker spaniel identical to the one in Lady and the Tramp. I also used to play outside and try to sing like Snow White so that little woodland creatures and birds would come and play with me (They never came. I sing pretty terribly.) I even bought two white mice when I was in middle school and tried to dress them up like the mice that were friends with Cinderella. (I know, I'm a little crazy.) The Lion King brought my love of lions to such new heights that I went to work on a lion park in South Africa a few years ago. None of these movies however, have had such a profound effect on me like the movie Dumbo. Even before I knew anything about the reality of animals in captivity, much less understand it, it always made me sad to watch that movie, even the parts that weren't meant to be sad. I didn't like that Dumbo and the other elephants in the movie had to wear silly costumes and do difficult and painful tricks just so the bratty kids that went to see the circus could have a laugh. And then of course, there is the bond and love that Dumbo and his mama Mrs. Jumbo share. My heart breaks every time she gets thrown in solitary just for protecting her baby boy. The scene where the mouse brings Dumbo to visit his mom in jail and she rocks him in her trunk turns me into a blubbering idiot every time. Watch it and try not to cry like a little girl. I dare you.
Couldn't do it, could you? Me either. I'm sobbing and am now trying to type with my 60 pound boxer sitting on my lap because I needed to hug an animal. This scene is not far off from the reality elephants in captivity endure. Baby elephants are taken away from their mothers at a very young age, beaten into submission and forced to do painful tricks. And for what? Because people pay to go to the circus. Because people pay to ride an elephant. Are we that selfish and indifferent that we'd pay to see an hour of stupid tricks at the cost of a lifetime of pain, heartache, and utter misery for such a sentient and soulful animal? I promise you, seeing these magnificent animals freely interact and socialize with one another, forage in the forest for banana trees, and splash around in a river until their heart's content, will bring you such profound joy that words will fail to describe it. When I learned that such a magical place existed in Northern Thailand, I knew I had to go. And I knew I had to go with the person who had rocked me in her trunk and sang the Dumbo lullaby to me many times in my life, my own Mrs. Jumbo, my mom Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in Sukhothai, Thailand is the realized dream of an amazing and lovely British woman named Katherine Connor. BLES was created in memory of Boon Lott, a three-month old elephant born premature, whom Katherine met and fell in love with while volunteering at an elephant hospital. Despite Katherine's world wide fundraising efforts to get him the best medical care, Boon Lott passed away at two years old, nestled in Katherine's arms the way he had slept every night since the day they met. The sanctuary inspired by the love Katherine and Boon Lott shared, is now home to 11 Asian elephants rescued from abusive lives in the tourism trade, including Boon Lott's mom, Pang Tong.
The time we spent at Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary was nothing short of amazing. Everyday was about the elephants! In the morning, we'd go for a banana run and load a pick-up truck with hundreds of banana bunches for the eles. When we pulled in to the sanctuary, some of them would be waiting for us and come running to munch on the bananas before we could unload them off the truck. When the eles had their fill of bananas, then the humans got to eat breakfast in the bamboo hut overlooking them splashing in the pond in front of us. When they had their fill of dunking each other in the water, they'd stick their trunks over the rail of the hut to see if there was any fruit leftover from our breakfast. The best was feeding my favorite girl, Lotus. She didn't take the fruit out of my hands with her trunk like the other elephants did, she opened up her mouth so I could put it all in there at once!
After breakfast, we would go on our morning walk with the elephants, their mahouts (elephant caretakers) and all the pups at the sanctuary. It was so funny to see the dogs in the front of the group as if they were leading the way. I'm sure they thought they were! The walks were really wonderful. We got to see how elephants are when they are happy and free. We watched them up close as they ate from bamboo trees, splashed around in the river, and we even shared some pomelo fruit that the mahouts cut up for us humans. The elephants however, very cleverly stepped on the fruit to crack it's hard shell so they could eat the sweet stuff inside. Or they just swallowed it whole!
Since elephants are migratory animals, they need to walk. A lot! Thankfully Katherine has managed to buy over 500 acres filled with all kinds of delicious foliage and fruit trees for them to feast on. The property has a beautiful river and pond for them to play in and cool off from the hot Thai sun. After our morning walk, we'd walk back down to the lake and the elephants would usually keep playing in the pond for the afternoon, or they'd hunt down more bananas. Then the humans would have lunch in the hut again and watch the eles continue playing happily with each other. At dinner, after the elephants went back into the forest to get tucked in, we'd enjoy homemade delicious Thai meals (vegetarian of coarse!) and Katherine would tell us the story of how every elephant was rescued and brought to BLES. Some stories were very sad, which just made me admire and respect this incredible woman even more for all of her bravery and selflessness. Dinner time usually meant having your feet warmed up by one of the dogs who patiently waited for us to finish our dinner so they could have the leftovers mixed up with their kibble. Every day spent with the animals at BLES was unique and heartwarming. It was easy to fall in love with all of them.
On top of maintaining the sanctuary and constantly fundraising to rescue more elephants, Katherine has a bunch of other projects she needs help getting off the ground as well. Since the inception of BLES, releasing the rehabilitated elephants back into a protected forest environment has been top priority. Deforestation is a harsh reality in Thailand today, and the BLES Land Release Program hopes to acquire more land so that it can in turn, save more elephants. Another necessity when caring for animals is medical care, especially when the majority of these elephants have come from abusive and neglectful situations. Unfortunately, the elephant hospitals are a six hour drive from BLES and the few vets that do on site visits cannot keep up with the demand for care. The Star Medical Clinic is named after BLES's first born who tragically died at two and a half years old during a thunderstorm. This clinic will act as a satellite and triage facility in support of existing veterinary clinics. It will provide diagnostic services, preliminary care and maintenance care. Minor cases will be able to be treated locally at the Star Clinic, while more severe cases requiring surgery and long-term care will be recommended to the hospitals. Local volunteers, veterinary students, and a resident veterinarian will staff the Star Clinic.
One of my favorite things at BLES was seeing all the dogs run around the sanctuary alongside the elephants. Like most third world countries, Thailand has a lot of strays. BLES is not exclusive to elephants, every animal in need is welcomed and cared for at the sanctuary. The BLES Cat & Dog Home will provide sanctuary to abused cats and dogs, and provide free medical care and neutering and spaying to all cats and dogs. It will also facilitate the adoption of the animals once they have been rehabilitated. More importantly, it will also work to educate the locals about simple care and training, therefore reducing cases of cruelty and neglect.
Whether you are an animal lover or not, it's easy to be inspired and amazed with Katherine Connor and all she has done for animals in need in Thailand. That being said, all these projects can only become a reality through donations from people like you and me. I wish I could save every animal in the world from pain and suffering and provide a happy and safe home where they can play with their families and animal friends for the rest of their lives. That's what Katherine does for elephants and for the strays that think they're elephants. If it wasn't so cold here in New York, I'd shout about it from the top of the Empire State Building and urge everyone to visit and support Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary and all of it's projects. And I'd implore anyone visiting Thailand not to support any person or business using elephants for rides, tricks, or begging. You can't even begin to fathom the amount of pain and suffering those elephants endure all in the name of tourism and entertainment. From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of all the elephants and animals I met in Thailand, please give what you can to help them and share their story. They say that elephants never forget, but the truth is that once you meet an elephant living a happy and peaceful life "just being an elephant", you will never forget it either.
"In a world full of people who couldn't care less, be someone who couldn't care more."
