For Immediate Release:
06 November 2024
Contact:
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Sanskriti Bansore; SanskritiB@petaindia.org
Vijayawada – After learning about the abuse of an Indian python in a procession held in Hanumanpet, Vijayawada, a former member of the Andhra Pradesh Animal Welfare Board, Mohammad Idrees, worked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to get a preliminary offence report (POR) registered under Section 9 read with Section 2(16)(b), Sections 39(1)(3), 51 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972. The offence is non-bailable and is punishable by up to seven years in jail and a minimum fine of Rs 25,000.
An eyewitness had observed the snake to be confined in a bag before being forcibly placed around an individual’s neck. The eyewitness also reportedly that the python’s mouth appeared stitched. The event organiser has been taken into custody, and forest officials are actively searching for the python and the individual who handled the snake.
Videos of the snake and a copy of the POR are available upon request.
“The best way to revere snakes is to leave them alone in their jungle homes. Using snakes in roadside shows is cruel, illegal, and disrespectful,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Sinchana Subramanyan. “PETA India thanks the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, particularly Sri Ajaya Kumar Naik, IFS, Chief Wildlife Warden, Andhra Pradesh, for his prompt action in letting the public know that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated.”
Snakes are trapped and taken from their natural habitats to be used for entertainment and kept as “pets”, disregarding the WPA, 1972. Their teeth are often violently yanked out and their venom glands emptied for species who are venomous. In many cases, their mouths are sewn shut, leaving only a tiny gap into which liquid can be poured. Captured snakes do not live very long, and their death is slow and painful.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit *PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
#
The post NTR Forest Division Books Event Organizer for Abuse of an Indian Python, Following PETA India Intervention appeared first on PETA India.