Animals Seized by Tumakuru Police From Apollo Circus Following PETA India Complaint

For Immediate Release:

14 February 2023

Contact:

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]

Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]

Tumakuru, Karnataka – After receiving a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India against Apollo Circus for using animals without a performing animals registration certificate and for cruelty to animals, the Karnataka Animal Welfare Board and Tumakuru police raided the circus, seized seven dogs and five fish, and registered a first information report (FIR) against the proprietor. The animals have been taken to safe places by PETA India.

The FIR was registered at the Jayanagar police station, Tumakuru, under sections 3, 11(1)(a), 11(1)(e), 26(a), and 38(3) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, for inflicting cruelty on animals and forcing animals to perform unregistered tricks. The provisions invoked in the FIR also include sections 289, 429, and 511 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for a hideous act in which fish were removed from water, held by a man between his teeth, swallowed, and regurgitated.

Photos of the police raid and seizure of animals are available upon request.

“PETA India commends the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), Karnataka Animal Welfare Board, and Tumakuru police for taking prompt action on our complaint,” says PETA India Manager of Cruelty Response Projects Meet Ashar. “These dogs and fish will have an opportunity to recover from their trauma in a safe environment. Circuses deprive animals of virtually everything natural and important to them and force them to perform tricks under threats and duress. We urge everyone to support only entertainment that doesn’t use live animals.”

Several AWBI inspections and numerous investigations by PETA India prove that using animals in circuses is inherently cruel: they’re continuously chained or confined to small, barren cages and deprived of veterinary care and adequate food, water, and shelter. They’re forced to perform confusing, uncomfortable, and even painful tricks under threat of physical abuse with weapons. Many display stereotypic, repetitive behaviour indicative of extreme stress.

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

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