Animal Abusers Slapped With Rs 40,000 Fine Following PETA India Complaint About Cruelty to Parakeet, Bird Rescued  

For Immediate Release:

08 September 2023

Contact: 

Meet Ashar; [email protected]  

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]g 

Agra – Acting on a tip from a concerned citizen, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India worked with the divisional forest officer of Agra Forest Division to rescue an Indian parakeet – a species protected under Schedule II of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972 (as amended in 2022) – who was being held illegally and subjected to torture by a family in the Taj Nagri Phase 2 neighbourhood of Agra. Video evidence shared confidentially with PETA India showed a man hurling his shoe at the cage with the bird inside and a woman slapping the bird multiple times after adjusting and holding the bird tightly in her hand. A hefty fine of Rs 40,000 was levied upon the offenders under Section 51 of the WPA, and the parakeet was released into their natural habitat shortly after being seized, following a medical examination. Indian parakeets are protected under Schedule II of the Act, and possessing this species is an offence punishable by a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or a jail term of up to three years or both. 

“PETA India thanks Agra forest department for working with us to rescue the caged and abused parakeet from a horrendous situation,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Saloni Sakaria. “This incident is exactly why laws exist to keep wild animals where they belong – in nature – and out of cages and chains.” 

In the illegal bird trade, countless birds are torn away from their families and denied everything that is natural and important to them so that they can be sold as “pets” or used as bogus fortune-tellers. Fledglings are often snatched from their nests, while other birds panic as they’re caught in traps or nets that can seriously injure or kill them as they struggle to break free. Captured birds are packed into small boxes, and an estimated 60% of them die in transit from broken wings and legs, thirst, or sheer panic. Those who survive face a bleak, lonely life in captivity, suffering from malnutrition, loneliness, depression, stress, and abuse.  

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram. 

 #