Coca Cola Sponsored Cruelty Must End

Laos was once called “The kingdom of million elephants” Now there are said to be less than 1000 wild elephants left in Laos, and around 1300 captive elephants

Once a year the Laos government gathers around 70 elephants in Xayabouly, a well-known province where many elephants were captured for training, for a week-long Festival of elephants.” In 2020 this Festival was sponsored by Coca Cola!

During the festival the elephants are forced to dance, play basketball and darts and perform “circus style” tricks. The training required for elephants to carry out these activities is both brutal and inhumane.

Cruelty is openly on display at this festival with many of the elephants having open wounds inflicted by the bullhook. Bull hook use in situ is also seen in abundance.

This is how the festival is described: “Elephant Festival is established with the aim to raise the awareness of people about the endangering situation of the elephant which has become scarce due to hunting and logging. Additionally, this occasion is also to celebrate the ancestral tradition of elephant domestication.” How exactly does watching beaten and abused elephants perform demeaning tricks achieve any of this?

In sponsoring this event Coca cola is supporting and facilitating cruelty as well as contributing to the decimation of the wild population of what is an endangered species There is a clear link between the capture of wild elephants and the decimation of wild populations

We ask that Coca Cola withdraw from the sponsorship of this event and that in future greater concern is afforded to environmental impact as well as animal welfare issues prior to offering corporate sponsorship of such events.