Delhi Police and PETA India to Display Over 100 Seized Spiked Bits Used to Control Horses in Weddings

For Immediate Release:

28 April 2022

Contact:

Hiraj Laljani  [email protected]

Sanskriti Bansore [email protected]

Delhi – With wedding plans skyrocketing as COVID-19 restrictions ease, Delhi police, following a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, seized over 100 spiked (or “thorn”) bits used to control horses used for ceremonies in recent raids throughout the city. These torture devices will be put on display at the Rajouri Garden police station on 29 April. PETA India hopes the display will encourage families to celebrate weddings without involving animals. The use of spiked bits – which are designed deliberately to incise animals’ mouths – violates Rule 8 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965.

When:             Friday, 29 April, 12 noon

Where:            Rajouri Garden police station, Vishal Enclave, Vishal Cinema Road, Shivaji Place, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi, Delhi 110027

“Spiked bits are used to control horses through pain, bloodying lips and tongues and inflicting psychological trauma and lifelong damage,” says PETA India Advocacy Associate Natasha Ittyerah. “PETA India urges couples to ditch horses and make their weddings an occasion for all to celebrate.”

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview – has launched a nationwide campaign aimed at helping police enforce the ban on using spiked bits on horses based on the results of a multi-state survey of government efforts to enforce the ban. After being contacted by PETA India, several other 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 the manufacture and sale of these devices.

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

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