For 55 years, an elephant named Tiny spent his days with chains wrapped around his body, hauling heavy logs through the woods of Thailand.
“From sun up, to sun down, seven days a week, his job was to pull trees behind him,” Aaron, a rescuer from Planting Peace, said in a video for The Dodo.
For decades, loggers in Thailand used elephants to help harvest heavy tree trunks, forcing the animals to suffer under harsh conditions. According to the Southern Thailand Elephant Foundation, this practice is now mostly banned across the country. But some loggers, like the ones who owned Tiny, continue to use this dangerous and inhumane method, despite warnings.
Tiny’s life was one of constant struggle. His captors often prodded him with sharp spears to make him obey. Without a suitable diet, he became malnourished — his spine poked through his back, and the sides of his head sunk in.
When animal advocates at Planting Peace heard about Tiny’s situation, they knew they had to help. They reached out to Tiny’s owners and began to negotiate. Eventually, the owners agreed to replace Tiny with a tractor if Planting Peace could secure enough funds for his freedom. So Planting Peace took to social media, looking for donations.
“Please help rescue Tiny,” the organization wrote in a post.
Animal lovers around the world sent funds. The numbers skyrocketed and soon hit the goal. Tiny was finally a free elephant.
Planting Peace found Tiny a new home at Following Giants, an 80-acre elephant sanctuary full of other rescue elephants for him to meet.
Free from the chains that bound him for so long, Tiny waded into a nearby river for his first swim. He happily dunked his head beneath the surface and lounged on the banks, embracing the bright future that lay before him.
“Anytime you get to see an elephant walk free for the first time, it’s incredible,” Aaron said. “It’s an incredible feeling knowing, ‘Wow, this elephant has been pulling trees behind him for 55 years, and now he’ll never know that life again.’”