Amritsar Police, PETA India, and Aashray Foundation to Display Hundreds of Seized Spiked Bits Used to Control Horses in Weddings

For Immediate release:

18 January 2023

Contact:

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]

Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]

Amritsar – Local police, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, and Aashray Foundation are planning to display hundreds of seized spiked (or “thorn”) bits used to control horses through pain, calling on everyone to celebrate weddings and other special occasions without involving animals. Police confiscated the torture devices – which are designed deliberately to incise animals’ mouths – from horse owners, as the use of these contraptions violates Rule 8 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, and replaced them with painless smooth bits. Similar law enforcement drives have been recently conducted by PETA India in Chandigarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mohali, and Panchkula. Over 500 spiked bits were seized from these areas. Peedu’s People assisted with the effort in areas of Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula.

When:  Thursday, 19 January, 12 pm to 1 pm

Where: Civil Line police station, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Nagar, Hasanpura Chowk, Company Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab 143001

“Spiked bits are used to control horses used for weddings through pain, bloodying lips and tongues and inflicting psychological trauma and lifelong damage,” says PETA India Advocacy Officer Natasha Ittyerah. “PETA India is calling on horse owners to reject these torture tools and on the public to condemn their use at every turn.”

PETA India has launched a nationwide campaign aimed at helping police enforce the ban on using spiked bits on horses. After being contacted by PETA India, several states and union territories – including Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh – also issued orders mandating the enforcement of this prohibition. PETA India is campaigning not only for police to search for and confiscate the illegally used devices but also for legislation to be introduced to close a loophole that still allows their manufacture and sale.

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 about PETA India, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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