Fritha enjoying a midnight strole (State Police photo)
WESTTOWN – Fritha is a 46-year-old Asian elephant who has been
living at the Sanctuary for Animals in Westtown since she was rescued
from Vietnam during the war, where she was napalmed, decided to go out
on her own Sunday night.
Neighbors called State Police at around 11:35 p.m. to report the giant
pachyderm was spotted not far from home. She was walked back calmly by
her owners who talked to Fritha as you would a human, said State Police
Spokesman Steven Nevel.
PETA, the anti-animal cruelty group, doesn’t see Fritha’s
return as an absolute happy ending.
“Elephants love to roam, browse, and forage over vast distances
with their loved ones, but this lonely captive elephant hasn’t had
the company of other elephants in years, and her only glimpse of freedom
was a few minutes on a dark, cold back road in New York,” said Rachel
Mathews of PETA. “This dangerous incident is just one reason among
many – not the least of which is the cruel training methods that
these animals endure – why elephants belong in nature or in sanctuaries,
not in roadside zoos or exhibitors’ menageries.”
The Dawn Animal Agency has a Noah’s Ark variety of animals on its
Westtown property, which it calls the Sanctuary for Animals. PETA disputes
the name saying it is not a sanctuary; the animals are leased out for
appearances in movies and other entertainment forms.
But the sanctuary for Animals website said it is situated on 770 acres
of land to house its menagerie of animals as a peaceful sanctuary for
them to live out their lives.
