For Immediate Release:
11 November 2024
Contact:
Meet Ashar; AsharM@petaindia.org
Hiral Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Kolhapur – Upon learning that a series of unauthorised animal races—including horse cart, horse-and-bull cart, and bull cart races—were scheduled for 31 October in Kolhapur with a potential starting point in Belagavi, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India took urgent action to stop the illegal races from going ahead. The group promptly alerted senior police officials of both Kolhapur and Belagavi districts that Shri Kalleshwar Yatra Committee reportedly planned these races according to a poster. As a result of police action, Shri Kalleshwar Yatra Committee submitted a letter to Kolhapur police informing them that the scheduled races had been cancelled.
“Horse and bull cart races inflict significant suffering on animals. Participants often force animals to run by striking them and using weapons, causing physical injuries and psychological trauma. These animals already face significant hardships when made to work and forcing them to endure being beaten and to run beyond the point of exhaustion is unacceptable,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Sunayana Basu. “We commend the Kolhapur police, particularly Additional Superintendent of Police Kohlapur, Shri Nikesh Khatmode Patil, and the Belgavi District police, particularly Deputy Superintendent of Police Chikkodi, Shri Gopalkrishna Goudar, for their commitment to upholding the law and protecting the animals from abuse.”
In its complaint letter, PETA India highlighted that under the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2001, and the Performing Animals (Registration) Amendment Rules, 2001, animals cannot legally be used for training, exhibition, or performances without prior approval of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). Events such as these animal races contravene the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, and potentially breach the Transport of Animals (Amendment) Rules, 2001. Additionally, using a horse and a bull to pull a single cart is anatomically inappropriate and violates the Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, notified under the PCA Act.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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