On October 18th, an elephant was recruited to carry a couple to a wedding in Huntington Beach, California. There is an ordinance in the city that prohibits wild animal performances, however in this case it was a first time offense.

As part of some Indian wedding celebrations, the wedding couple gets to ride on an elephant for a procession.

One couple opted to include the tradition in their October 18th Huntington Beach marriage festivities, but their decision wasn’t entirely well received.

According to Huntington Beach police Lieutenant Mitch O’Brien, “Apparently, an Indian couple had rented the elephant for a ceremony and some people saw that, didn’t like it and called us.”

Officers responded to the scene but no one was cited. There is an ordinance in the city that prohibits wild animal performances, however in this case lenience was given as it was a first time offense.

The wedding took place at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa and staffers there have said they assumed the elephant rental company had taken care of all of the requisite paperwork.

The organization Animal Defenders International got wind of the incident and scheduled a meeting with city officials. They are requesting that the company ‘Have Trunk Will Travel’, which rented out the elephant for the wedding, be fined for violating the city’s wild animal law.

Animal Defenders International has previously accused the business of abusing pachyderms.