PETA Demands Lao Development Bank End Sponsorship of Cruel Elephant Festival

Xayaboury— Ahead of the upcoming Xayaboury Elephant Festival, PETA today is alerting the public to the cruelty inflicted on elephants at the event and urging compassionate people everywhere to call on Lao Development Bank to cut ties with the abusive festival. After hearing from PETA, all other sponsors of last year’s event, including Thailand-based RMA Group—which represents Ford, Land Rover, Quick Lane, Mahindra Rise, JCB, TCM Lift Trucks, and John Deere—have already pulled their support. But Lao Development Bank remains silent.

The Xayaboury Elephant Festival forces elephants to perform demeaning tricks such as dancing and “playing” football and darts and to give rides with heavy chairs strapped to their backs. Prior to the festival, frightened young elephant calves are subjected to a violent training technique known as the phajaan or crush, in which they’re torn from their mothers and herds, imprisoned alone, and abused to break their spirits and make them submissive to humans. Other elephants are beaten with sharp, steel-tipped bullhooks and sticks with nails embedded in them and have sharp hooks jammed into their ears to force them to comply, and they often have open wounds visible throughout the festival.

“At the Xayaboury Festival, elephants are beaten, jabbed, abused, and forced to play ridiculous games in front of raucous crowds,” says PETA President Jason Baker. “PETA is calling on Lao Development Bank to cut ties with this disgusting spectacle and urges everyone to avoid any event where animals are exploited for entertainment.”

At previous years’ festivals, vendors were seen openly selling illegal items, including elephant ivory, skin, and hair products.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow PETA Asia on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

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