For Immediate Release:
03 January 2025
Contact:
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Sanskriti Bansore; SanskritiB@petaindia.org
Raigad – Following a recent health camp by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Maharashtra based NGO Animal Rahat and participants from the Maharashtra animal husbandry department which brought attention to the critical condition of ponies used to transport goods at the Matheran hill station, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has called upon the Matheran Monitoring Committee to replace ponies with eco-friendly electric transportation and to immediately rehabilitate ill and injured ponies to suitable sanctuaries.
The report showed that nearly 95% of the ponies examined were severely malnourished, with visible ribs, spines, and pelvises. Many bore painful, open wounds caused by ill-fitting tack and from carrying heavy loads up and down steep terrain without adequate rest or care. Some ponies were illegally controlled with spiked bit weapons, inflicting additional pain by tearing into their sensitive mouths, and many exhibited signs of lameness, vision impairments, and swollen joints but were forced to work.
The camp also highlighted pressing public health and environmental concerns. Accumulated animal waste near makeshift shelters subjects people to unhygienic conditions and creates a zoonotic disease risk, such as glanders. Glanders is typically fatal for equines and humans.
“In 2025, treating animals mercilessly, and using them to haul heavy loads when eco-friendly vehicles are available is unnecessary and indefensible,” says PETA India Sr. Policy Advisor Ujjwal Agrain. “Replacing animals with eco-friendly mechanisation is a humane and modern solution that will protect animals, promote public health, and preserve Matheran’s eco-tourism appeal.”
On 23 October 2024, PETA India presented the findings of the veterinary health camp to the Matheran Monitoring Committee. The committee was sensitive to the animals’ suffering and assured steps to reduce it. However, PETA India has now made the findings of the health camp public because the ponies are still being used to haul loads.
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.
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