Goa Prohibits Manufacture, Sale, and Trade of Spiked Bits Illegally Used to Harm Horses Following PETA India’s Appeal

For Immediate Release:

11 September 2023

Contact:

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]

Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]

Panaji – Following an appeal from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Goa Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Dr Agostinho Misquita directed all assistant directors and veterinary officers of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services to comply with the advisory issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India to prohibit the sale, manufacture, and trade of spiked bits to stop their illegal use.

A copy of the Goa government’s notification is available upon request.

“This action will go a long way towards ending cruelty to horses in Goa,” says PETA India Advocacy Officer Natasha Ittyerah. “PETA India is celebrating this development and urging all other states and union territories to protect horses by banning spiked bits from the market.”

Spiked bits sink deep into horses’ mouths and cut their lips and tongues, causing extreme pain and lifelong damage. Rule 8 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, framed under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, prohibits the use of “any spiked stick or bit, harness or yoke with spikes, knobs or projections or any sharp tackle or equipment”, but spiked bits are commonly used to control horses used for weddings, rides, hauling carriages, and lugging goods.

Recently, the Meghalaya director of animal husbandry and veterinary also sent a letter urging action on PETA India’s request to prohibit the sale, manufacture, and trade of spiked bits there.

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 conducted enforcement actions with police, including in Chandigarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Punjab, seizing more than 800 spiked bits in the past year alone.

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

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