• In early November, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent a letter to the then minister of agriculture, Nitish Kumar, because of allegations that he was holding back parliamentary action on the much-needed amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, urging him to allow the amendments to be put before the Parliament during the current session. The minister did not reply.
• Government discussions took place in Tamil Nadu with regard to the plight of animals during transport, but PETA knew from reports by animal protection organisations in Tamil Nadu that severe and hideous overcrowding of animals during transport remained a serious problem. The CLE requested that the Tamil Nadu Transport Department compile a list of animal transporters so that these people could be contacted and trained in animal handling, but no other steps toward training these people were taken.
• The Wildlife Society of Orissa and the Orissa People for Animals contacted PETA about the transportation of cattle with more than 50 per lorry in suffocating conditions across their state. It was alleged that the Orissa police stopped one overcrowded lorry but allowed the transporters to go without penalty and failed to remove the suffering animals from the lorry. It was further alleged that Transport Department officials had been routinely accepting bribes. PETA immediately sent a communication to the Orissa chief minister, Naveen Pattnaik, and the Orissa minister of animal husbandry, Vishwa Harichandan, bringing the situation to their attention and imploring them to demand the enforcement of transport laws. In late November, the Orissa state government sent a directive to relevant officials, asking that animal protection laws be enforced, but it was reported that cruel transport remained a serious problem.
• PETA learned from media reports that some police officials and municipality doctors had been attacked by illegal butchers near Sadar Bazar in Delhi. PETA’s director of investigations, Poorva Joshipura, sent a letter of encouragement to the Delhi police commissioner, Ajay Sharma, after being told that the Delhi police were typically reluctant to get involved in matters involving animal abuse.
• People for Animals stopped two trains illegally transporting cattle and smuggling oxytocin, an illegal drug used on female cattle to increase milk production and causing great pain. One train carried 634 cattle; the other carried 628.
• Poorva Joshipura, PETA research manager, and PETA campaign coordinator Jason Baker paid a follow-up visit to the Calcutta municipal slaughterhouse to determine if any steps had been taken to improve the facility’s dire conditions as per the municipality’s promise in July. The Calcutta authorities, including the Calcutta health commissioner, Dr Ghosh, and the slaughterhouse manager, Subrata Bhattacharjee, denied entry, admitting that no improvements for the animals or in hygiene had been made. The PETA representatives observed buffaloes being mercilessly beaten by cattle traders to make them walk into the slaughterhouse and took note of butchers entering the facility carrying tiny knives. It was evident to PETA that the Calcutta abattoir and its management would not improve conditions unless more drastic measures were taken. Poorva Joshipura obtained video documentation of buffaloes being badly beaten during transport in West Bengal.
• PETA’s Poorva Joshipura and representatives from Bangalore-based Crusade for the Rights of Animals paid a surprise visit—PETA’s third—to the Bangalore municipal abattoir and discovered that conditions for the goats and cattle had not improved despite promises made in July by Dr Shanta Kumar, the abattoir’s manager, and Dr Aswathanarayana, the director of animal husbandry and veterinary services. PETA videotaped goats being dragged to slaughter and floors drenched with blood and offal. Children helped kill the goats and mutilate their bodies while the animals were still conscious. Cattle had their necks bent and dislocated, were forced to the ground and were cut with unsharpened knives. Many minutes passed before the animals lost consciousness. Crusade for the Rights of Animals obtained video documentation of cattle being illegally overloaded onto lorries.
• PETA’s Poorva Joshipura and her colleague Jason Baker conducted a surprise inspection of Mumbai’s Deonar abattoir more than one year after PETA’s initial investigation and found that nothing had changed. The hideous conditions were again documented by PETA representatives wearing undercover camera equipment. More than 30 downed and dead cattle were strewn across the grounds. Cattle arriving injured at the facility in overcrowded lorries were slaughtered in full view of each other, as were the goats, with dulled knives under unhygienic conditions. PETA representatives observed animals with deep wounds, broken bones, broken horns and missing and bloodied eyes—all ignored by Deonar’s large veterinary staff.
• PETA’s Poorva Joshipura prepared a report and sent it, with letters, to federal and state-level officials, including Prime Minister Vajpayee, then Minister of Agriculture Nitish Kumar, Minister of Commerce Murasoli Maran, the then Mumbai municipal commissioner, V. Ranganathan, Mumbai Mayor Hareshwar Patil and Colonel Nautiyal of the Bombay SPCA, detailing the abysmally cruel conditions at Deonar. PETA asked these officials to immediately close the abattoir, at least until the management was replaced, the staff was adequately trained and animal protection laws were enforced. Having not heard back from the officials, PETA held a news conference addressing the dismal conditions at Deonar and the Bombay SPCA’s failure to follow its mandate. That news conference resulted in international media coverage.
• PETA initiated correspondence with countries known to import meat from Deonar, including Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and obtained a document from High Court Advocate R.K. Joshi, stating that it is illegal for Deonar to export meat according to the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, and Bombay’s Rules for Markets and Slaughterhouses. The UAE government later informed PETA that Deonar has been blacklisted.
• PETA’s President Ingrid Newkirk wrote to H. Mohamed Hashim, then chair of the CLE, asking him to take steps to improve conditions at the Bangalore, Calcutta and Mumbai abattoirs.
Late 1998-1999
2000
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
2001
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
