Latest News | PETA Launches Tour of Delhi Schools with Mechanical Elephant to Teach Students Empathy

New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) In a bid to teach empathy to students, animal rights group PETA on Tuesday launched a tour of schools in Delhi-NCR with Ellie, a life-size mechanical elephant.

In a statement, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said children at Raghubir Singh Junior Modern School were treated to a special visit from a realistic, life-sized mechanical elephant -- Ellie -- voiced by actor Dia Mirza.

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Blinking her eyes and flapping her ears like a real elephant, Ellie tells children an age-appropriate story about being separated from her mother as a baby, the abuse she endured in a circus and finally her happy life at a sanctuary after being rescued, it said.

Nalini Singh Rajput, the school's principal, told the students, "Elephants are deeply intelligent, social and emotional beings who belong in nature, not in confinement where they are chained and beaten. We are delighted to have Ellie in our school to sensitise our students about developing empathy for animals and other living beings."

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PETA India's Senior Education Coordinator Meenakshi Narang said, "Ellie's story provides an invaluable lesson in empathy by teaching children that, just like us, elephants are intelligent animals who have feelings and personalities."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)