‘Elephants’, ‘Horses’, and ‘Cows’ Request Stronger Protection ahead of Gandhi Jayanti

For Immediate Release:

28 September 2018

Contact:

Ayushi Sharma; [email protected]

Garima Jain; [email protected]

PETA India Supporters Call for Updated Punishments for Animal Abusers

Delhi – Wearing elephant, horse, cow, chicken, lion, and other animal masks and holding a banner that reads, “The Greatness of a Nation and Its Moral Progress Can Be Judged by the Way Its Animals Are Treated” – a quote popularly attributed to Mahatma Gandhi – a cadre of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India supporters will gather at Connaught Place for a demonstration and photo opportunity on Monday, 1 October, in advance of Gandhi Jayanti. PETA India is requesting that the central government consider strengthening animal-protection laws, pointing out that penalties for cruelty under the current main animal-welfare legislation – The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, which is nearly six decades old – are woefully weak and have little to no deterrent effect on animal abusers today.

When:             Monday, 1 October, 12 noon sharp

Where:           Outside Rajiv Chowk metro station, Gate No 6, Palika Bazaar, Connaught Place, Delhi

“A Rs 50 fine won’t stop abusers from overloading a truck with cattle or beating a stray dog,” says PETA India Campaigns Coordinator Ayushi Sharma. “India needs penalties for animal abuse that have teeth so that they can take a bite out of cruelty and keep both animals and humans safe.”

Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals often don’t stop there – many move on to hurting their fellow humans. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has found that a history of cruelty to animals regularly appears in the backgrounds of serial rapists and murderers.

Currently, the penalty for cruelty to animals under the PCA Act, 1960, is a fine of between Rs 10 and 50 for the first offence, which may go up to a fine of merely Rs 100 or a sentence of up to three months in prison for a subsequent offence. Lately, numerous extreme cruelty-to-animals cases have come to light – including one in which four Mumbai children barbarically killed three puppies and another in which eight men allegedly gang-raped a pregnant goat to death – demonstrating the need for stronger penalties.

For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com.

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