Elephants of Eden respond to animal cruelty allegations

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The owner of Elephants of Eden at Alexandria in the Eastern Cape says she does not deny animal cruelty allegations laid by the National Council of SPCA's.

Lizette Withers says, however, that the charges relate to a single incident that took place six years ago.

The NSPCA laid animal cruelty charges against Elephants of Eden, after receiving footage depicting cruel and abusive training methods used to control young elephants for their future in the elephant-based tourist industry.

The charges extend to the elephant's owners and management of The Knysna Elephant Park, to where the remaining elephants were recently moved.

Withers told AlgoaFM News the park only found out about the incident two weeks after it took place in November 2008.

She says the situation was rectified immediately.

"Two guys got fired the other people were not working for me.I've got nothing to hide, I didn't abuse the elephants.It was one of the staff members that didn't even work for me. The main people that didn't work for me, the ones who abused the elephants worked for the guy who laid the complaint, I mean he must be cooked in his head." says Withers.