For Immediate Release:
26 December 2024
Contact:
Meet Ashar; AsharM@petaindia.org
Hiral Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Raigad – After being alerted to a promotional video on social media about a buffalo fighting event being hosted at Pimpalwadi village in Mahad taluka of Raigad district, Maharashtra, on 25 December, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India promptly and successfully took action to stop the event by notifying and collaborating with Raigad police. The Mahad Police issued a notice to the organisers of the illegal buffalo fighting event, instructing them to cancel the scheduled event. The organisers, who had planned the fight in celebration of Shri Vikas Gogawale’s birthday, a core committee member of Shiv Sena’s Maharashtra Yuva Sena and the Yuva Sena Secretary for the Konkan region, complied with the directive. They provided written confirmation to the police, ensuring that no such illegal events violating the law would be conducted.
“PETA India commends Raigad’s Superintendent of Police, Shri Somnath Gharge, IPS, and Assistant Police Inspector, Shri Jeevan Mane of the Mahad Police Station, for their prompt action in preventing the illegal buffalo fight from taking place and sending the message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Sinchana Subramanyan. “Spectacles that force animals to engage in combat are not only inherently cruel and violent but also illegal. Animals used for fighting endure immense suffering, including severe physical injuries and psychological distress. These animals are subjected to inhumane training regimens designed to amplify their aggression, endure constant physical abuse, suffer from malnutrition, and are kept in poor conditions.”
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, prohibits inciting animals to fight with each other. In a landmark judgment in 2014, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favour of the petitioners, PETA India, and the government advisory body, the Animal Welfare Board of India, establishing that bullfighting, dogfighting, and any other staged fights between animals, including between humans and other animals, for entertainment, must end.
Buffalo fighting involves pitting two buffaloes against each other in a violent and often bloody confrontation. The animals are hit and goaded into fighting until one is deemed the winner. Similarly, bulls are pitted against each other, forced into aggressive encounters, and often provoked using painful methods. The goal is to incite violence between the animals for entertainment or gambling. These events subject the animals to significant physical and psychological harm, including fractures, puncture wounds, and severe stress.
PETA India – whose motto reads, “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.
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