For Immediate Release:
11 November 2024
Contact:
Meet Ashar; AsharM@petaindia.org
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Thane – In recent court proceedings, the 9th Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court in Thane granted interim custody of six horses to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India following their use in illegal racing on a highway.
PETA India filed an application seeking interim custody of the six horses on 8 October after the Kashigaon police station registered a first information report and seized the horses under sections 291, 281, 125, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 11 (1)(a) and (1)(l) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960. The court, acting in accordance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, 2017, notified under the PCA Act, 1960, was pleased to allow PETA India’s application seeking interim custody of the horses and rejected the custody application filed by the accused owners in the matter.
The videos of the race, the court order, and photos of the horses being rehabilitated at a reputed sanctuary are available upon request.
“PETA India is deeply grateful to the court of Hon’ble Magistrate Smt Ruchi Bhagat for considering the horses’ plight and directing interim custody that allows for their rehabilitation at a sanctuary, where they would never face a whip or be forced to race,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Legal Advisor and Associate Director Meet Ashar. “Now the horses can begin to heal from their trauma and abuse.”
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – pointed out in its petition that under the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2001, and the Performing Animals (Registration) Amendment Rules, 2001, no animal can be legally used for training, exhibition, or performances without being registered with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). Spectacles such as the planned animal races also violate the PCA Act, 1960, and may violate the Transport of Animals (Amendment) Rules, 2001. In addition, the group referred to a 2016 Rajasthan High Court order that banned tonga races in the state following a study report submitted by the AWBI. The report highlighted that cruelty is inherent in forcing horses to run on roads amid traffic conditions that are frightening and distressing for them. Additionally, the group relied on Rule 3(b) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, 2017, which empowers the magistrate to grant custody of seized animals to an animal welfare organisation, as well as judicial precedents of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and various high and trial courts in which interim custody of seized animals was awarded to animal welfare organisations while trials were pending to avoid further abuse.
For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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