For Immediate Release:
28 January 2025
Contact:
Meet Ashar; AsharM@petaindia.org
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Siddharthnagar—Acting on videos that appeared on social media showing three Indian porcupines (Hystrix indica), a species protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972, being unlawfully possessed and abused, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India worked with the Siddharthnagar Forest Division of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to register a preliminary offence report (POR) and get the porcupines seized.
The videos are available upon request.
PETA India had received multiple videos from concerned members of the public showing Mr Monu Kumar, a resident of Siddharthnagar, allegedly confining and exploiting porcupines for entertainment and content creation. The footage also shows a woman and two children, with the children close to the wild animals, posing significant risks to their safety from the animals’ spikes.
The POR was registered under sections 2, 9, 39, and 51 of the WPA, 1972, against the illegal custodian, Mr Monu Kumar. The accused has been apprehended, and the porcupines have been rescued. After a medical examination, the animals will be sent to the Gorakhpur Zoo for rehabilitation. Any offence against species protected under Schedule I of the WPA, 1972 is punishable with a jail term of at least three years, which may extend to seven years, and a fine of at least ₹25,000.
“We commend Shri Pushpa Kumar, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Siddharthnagar, for promptly rescuing the porcupines and registering the POR, sending a clear message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” says Virendra Singh, Cruelty Response Coordinator at PETA India. “PETA India urges compassionate individuals to remain observant and report any cruelty to wildlife or other animals to the appropriate authorities, such as the police or the forest department.”
Indian porcupines are hunted for meat, and their quills are used in traditional medicines, ornaments, and good luck charms.
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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