This kind of news is something we crave for: a happy ending for an animal who nearly had no chance:

“The most exciting news of the month is that the nightmare is finally over for Sunder! For the past two years, we’ve been fighting to free this young elephant from a temple where he was used as a living begging bowl. He spent almost 24 hours a day immobilized by chains in a dark shed and lived under the constant threat of beatings from which he bore numerous scars.

PETA affiliates worldwide launched campaigns to free him, and PETA India sued for his freedom and won. The court required that Sunder be released to a sanctuary, but the owner refused to comply and hid Sunder instead. Meanwhile, the owner’s allies used religious blackmail and political corruption to thwart efforts to free him.

After months of sleuthing, Animal Rahat discovered where Sunder was hidden and released video footage of his beatings and injuries—the tight chains had cut deeply into his legs. This new evidence was the tipping point that caused the court to demand Sunder’s release.

We arranged transportation to the sanctuary, and even then our crew was threatened by men who followed the truck on motorcycles and put nails under our tires to try to stop us.

Just this month, Sunder arrived at his new sanctuary home, free from violence for the first time in his life. A fatherly bull elephant, Van Raj, has already reached out to him—possibly the first elephant friend that Sunder has ever had! He walks with Van Raj and the female elephants and has met a baby elephant who initially scared him but now fascinates him.”