PLEASE sign/share/tweet. Agam, a two-year-old baby orphaned Sumatran elephant, was pronounced dead on 26th October 2014 due to a fractured tibia that he had had since mid May 2014. Agam was an orphaned elephant taken care at the Elephant Conservation Center Saree, Aceh Besar. Considered to be incurable and to experience pain for a long term, dr. Christopher Stremme from Vesswic, an NGO which was assisting in caring for Agam, recommended that this baby elephant to be euthanized. Concerned about this situation, a group of volunteers initiated to visit Saree to assist the care of Agam by giving him a therapy and provide a healtier environment to help the healing with the knowledge of BKSDA (Natural Resources Conservation Center) Aceh. Based on what the volunteers witnessed, photos released on Vesswic and Save Bona The Elephant (also supports Vesswic) Facebook fanpages, and other sources, also based on the direct conversation via telephone with the parties involved in the caring of Agam, some findings are discovered as follows: Agam had pressure wounds and rope burns in the inguinal axillary and lower abdominal region due to the sling ( Agam worn it to help him stand) which was made of rough rope. The way the sling was put on was also wrong that caused Agam to lean back, creating more weight on his injured hind leg. The picture of Agam with this awful sling was posted on Vesswics facebook fanpage, which suggested that Vesswic knew about this first point. Agams stable itself was dirty, which was ompletely unfavorable and lead to infection in his open wounds as recorded in the autopsy. The methode of moving, helping him stand up and laying him down caused terrible pain to him, making him scream in pain as his ears, trunk and tail were pulled in the process. Being severely injured, Agam was often let to stand on his sling for many hours beyond his capability and this led to extreme exhaustion which was detrimental to his health condition. This happened over and over again. Unable to walk properly due to his injury, Agam was let to wander on foot without any mobility aids, which was suggested to have worserned his injury. Agam was looked after daily by the caregivers and a resident vet (from BKSDA Aceh) at Elephant Conservation Center Saree. Elephants are protected by the state according to Act No 5 of 1990 on the conservation of biological resources and their ecosystems. A vet has made an oath to dedicate their life in humanity through the improvement of animals health and prioritize the health of their patients (animals). The animal caregivers also have made an oath to give the best care to the animals and plants. We believe that, had all parties involved in Agams care not been arrogant and closed and been willing to cooperate, and had the intensive care been carried out immediately as soon as Agam had fallen, he would have survived just like Medo and Mintra, the elephants in Thailand who had almost the same case as Agam. Or at least Agam would have passed away pain free according to the principles of animals well-being.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 16:43:18 +0000