Bengaluru Rural Police Welcomes PETA India in Leading Workshop to Combat Cruelty to Animals 

For Immediate Release:

16 September 2026

Contact: 

Meet Ashar; [email protected] 

Varulika Dixit; [email protected]  

Bengaluru – Friday, nearly 150 police personnel from the Bengaluru Rural Police, including Station House Officers (SHOs), Police Inspectors/Sub-Inspectors (PI/PSIs), Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs), and Head Constables (HCs) participated in a sensitisation workshop conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) on combating cruelty to animals and strengthening enforcement of animal protection laws. The workshop was held on 11 September in the conference hall of the Inspector General of Police, Central Range Headquarters, in Vasanth Nagar. 

The workshop was held as part of an initiative spearheaded under the visionary leadership of Shri Girish Sanner, IPS, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Central Range, who has issued an order directing animal protection law sensitisation workshops for police personnel across all six districts under Central range—Bengaluru Rural, KGF, Kolar, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, and Bengaluru South. Under his leadership, and with the support of Additional Superintendent of Police – 2, Bengaluru Rural, Shri Lakshminarayana A.V. and Deputy Superintendent of Police in the office of DIG Central Range, Shri Niranjan Kumar, the Bengaluru Rural Police Workshop was conducted as the first in the series, with workshops in the remaining districts to follow. 

The workshop focused on practical aspects of preventing and responding to cruelty to animals and covered key provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2022; the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; and other relevant laws and legal provisions. The session also addressed the role of the police in registering FIRs, conducting investigations, coordinating with veterinary and other government authorities, and taking appropriate action in cases involving cruelty to animals and wildlife offences. 

Photos from the sensitisation program are available upon request.

“Police play a crucial role in ensuring that cruelty to animals and violence in society is addressed and prevented. PETA India is pleased to support the Bengaluru Rural Police in applying animal protection laws and procedures to save animals’ lives and to protect them and society at large from harm,” says Meet Ashar, PETA India’s Legal Advisor and Director of Cruelty Response. “On behalf of animals and human communities, we are deeply grateful to Shri Girish Sanner, IPS, DIG Central Range, for directing sensitisation of police officials under the Central Range on animal protection.” 

Recently, for the first time, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) tracked cases of cruelty against animals in the country and compiled data, noting the registration of 9,039 cases and the arrest of 10,312 persons in 2024. 

In 2021, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations released a report revealing that in the decade prior, nearly 500,000 animals were victims of crimes. 

PETA India notes that many violent criminals have a documented history of cruelty to animals. A study published in Forensic Research and Criminology International Journal warns, “Those who engage in cruelty to animals were [three] times more likely to commit other crimes, including murder, rape, robbery, assault, harassment, threats, and drug/substance abuse.”  

This initiative is part of PETA India’s ongoing efforts to sensitise law enforcement personnel and empower animal rights activists across India to ensure that crimes against animals are addressed with the seriousness they deserve. Similar sensitisation workshops have previously been conducted with the Border Security Force in Gwalior; the Chhattisgarh State Police; the Goa State Police and Goa Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services; the Sikkim State Police; Pune City Police; Nagpur City Police; Mira-Bhayandar and Vasai-Virar Police; Belagavi district police; Hubli-Dharwad district police; Bengaluru City Police; Jammu, Kathua and Samba district police; Bengaluru and Chikkamagaluru Police Training Schools; Central District Delhi Police and Kerala Police Academy (KEPA), Thrissur.  

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – has long campaigned to strengthen the PCA Act, 1960, which contains outdated, inadequate penalties, such as a maximum fine of only Rs 50 for convicted first-time offenders (although the BNS, 2023, and WPA, 1972, prescribe stronger punishments). In a proposal sent to the central government regarding an amendment to the PCA Act, PETA India has recommended significantly increasing penalties for cruelty to animals.    

For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.   

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