Chhattisgarh Police Seeks Action on Illegal Cruelty and Killing of Animals for Sacrifice, While State Makes Other Animal Welfare Reforms Following PETA India Pleas
For Immediate Release:
27 September 2022
Contact:
Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]
Dr Kiran Ahuja; [email protected]
Chhattisgarh – Following People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s plea and a circular from the government body Animal Welfare Board of India, the office of the assistant inspector general of police, Chhattisgarh, has written to all senior police superintendents and police superintendents urging them to stop the illegal transport and killing of animals during religious festivals for animal sacrifice, take immediate action on all related complaints, and ensure compliance with all animal protection laws pertaining to animal sacrifice. Meanwhile, just last week, PETA India announced that following its appeal to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of gestation and farrowing crates in pig farming, the Directorate of Veterinary Services of Chhattisgarh demanded that action be taken in this regard.
The order from the assistant inspector general of police, Chhattisgarh, and the copy of the letter from the Directorate of Veterinary Services are available upon request.
“All religions call for compassion, and adherence to animal protection laws is simply civic duty,” says PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja. “PETA India commends the Chhattisgarh police for its life-saving action which could protect countless animals from harm and applauds the Chhattisgarh government for taking steps that could spare countless mother pigs severe confinement.”
The Supreme Court of India ordered that animals can be slaughtered only in officially licensed slaughterhouses and that municipal authorities must ensure compliance with such directions. Central government laws permit the slaughter of animals only in registered or licensed slaughterhouses equipped with species-specific stunning equipment. On 7 May 2014, the Supreme Court, in its landmark judgment in AWBI vs A. Nagaraja & Ors,. also passed directions to state agencies, instrumentalities, and law enforcement authorities to uphold and enforce animal protection laws.
Laws related to transporting animals are also frequently violated. Common illegal practices include cramming animals into severely crowded trucks – which routinely causes them to suffocate and sustain broken bones – beating animals to keep them moving while marching them to the place of sacrifice, and slaughter by untrained individuals who slit animals’ throats with blunt knives in full view of other animals and often in front of traumatised children who want to protect them.
The circular cites Section 11(1)(e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which prohibits the confinement of any animal in a receptacle that fails to offer a reasonable opportunity for movement, such as gestation and farrowing crates. Confining animals in this way is illegal, a position confirmed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s National Research Centre on Pig. Chhattisgarh joins the ranks of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh in addressing the use of both gestation and farrowing crates in pig rearing.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – notes that today, many people observe festivals in kinder ways such as by committing to helping the less fortunate, including animals.
For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
#
