Sobo Films Set Crash: Two Spooked Horses Tumble at Film City; PETA India Files Complaint With Police
After receiving videos and a photograph recorded on the set of Sobo Films showing two horses hitched to a carriage running at high speed and crashing into a boom barrier at Film City in Mumbai, PETA India filed a formal complaint with the Aarey Police Station against the production house involved and the owner(s) of the horses. In the videos, reportedly shot during a shoot of serial Ek Mahanayak: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the horses tumble and badly fall. At least one of the horses reportedly sustained a fracture. PETA India has also sent a formal complaint regarding the incident to the Animal Welfare Board of India – the prescribed authority under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, to regulate the use of animals in films – requesting urgent action.
In addition, PETA India has sent a formal complaint to Dr Avinash Dhakane, IAS, the managing director of Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Limited, a government body which manages Film City, requesting that he assist the police with CCTV footage and other evidence to ensure the offenders are held accountable for violating laws and to aid the police investigation into the matter.
In September 2021, PETA India worked with Abdullapurmet police after a similar horrific incident, in which a horse was involved in a head-on collision and died during the shooting of the film Ponniyin Selvan. PETA India got a first information report registered against the management of the production company, Madras Talkies, and the owner of the horse.
Animals used in the entertainment industry are typically separated from their mothers as infants, beaten or starved during training, forced to perform confusing or dangerous tricks, chained or kept in intense confinement when not being used, and subjected to the chaos of film and television studios.
