Four Parakeets Seized From Pet Shop by Ballia Forest Division Following PETA India Complaint
For Immediate Release:
16 December 2025
Contact:
Meet Ashar; [email protected]
Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]
Ballia – Following a concerned citizen’s report about four Alexandrine parakeets being sold openly at Vishvajit Darshan Aquarium located near Ramleela Maidan in Ballia, and confined in a cramped cage under deplorable conditions, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) worked with the Ballia Forest Division to rescue the birds. Upon reaching the site, forest officials found four parakeets, who were immediately seized by the authorities.
Photos and videos of the parakeets and their rescue are available upon request.
The Ballia Forest division has registered a Preliminary Offence Report (POR) under Sections 9, 39, and 51 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972, against the owner of Vishvajit Darshan Aquarium, the alleged offender. Alexandrine parakeets are protected under Schedule II of the WPA. Buying, selling, or 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.
Following the rescue, the parakeets were sent for a health check and veterinary assessment. After clearance from the veterinarian, the birds were released into nature. Possessing, selling, or trading this species is an offence punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh, or both.
“PETA India is grateful to the Ballia Forest Division of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, particularly Divisional Forest Officer Shri Apoorv Dixit, IFS, for promptly rescuing the parakeets from lives of imprisonment,” says PETA India Emergency Response Coordinator Divya Chavan. “PETA India urges anyone who learns of cruelty to animals to report it to a local animal protection group and the police or, when wildlife is involved, the forest department.”
In the illegal bird trade, countless birds are taken from their families and denied everything 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, and others 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 life in captivity, suffering from malnutrition, loneliness, depression, and stress.
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 Facebook, Instagram, or X.
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