Kolhapur: Illegal Greyhound Dog Race Event Cancelled Following PETA India Complaint

For Immediate Release:

07 January 2026

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Kolhapur—Acting swiftly upon receiving information about a poster being circulated promoting an illegal dog race scheduled for 4 January 2026 at Sahara Chowk, Market Yard, Peth Wadgaon, Kolhapur, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) worked closely with the Kolhapur police to ensure that the illegal event was successfully prevented. Following a request from PETA India, the Wadgaon police station issued a notice to organisers of the illegal greyhound dog race under Section 168 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, to prevent the unlawful activities.

“Forcing dogs to race is inherently cruel as it often leads to serious injury or death,” says Sreekutty Bennett, Lead Emergency Response Coordinator at PETA India. “We commend the Kolhapur Police, particularly Shri Yogesh Kumar IPS, Superintendent of Police, Kolhapur; Shri Amol Thakur, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Jaisingpur; and Shri Pramod Shinde, Station House Officer, Wadgaon Police Station, for their decisive action to uphold the law and protect these dogs from abuse.”

Dog racing involves forcing dogs to race at such dangerously high speeds that it puts a tremendous strain on their bodies, often causing them to suffer injuries or death. They are typically confined to kennels and forced to stand in their filth when not used. Dogs who lose may face harsh abuses, such as abandonment or being killed. Injuries, exhaustion, and psychological trauma are common in spectacles in which animals are forced to race, which prioritises gambling over the welfare of the animals.

In its complaint, PETA India highlighted an advisory issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) on 04 August 2025, sent to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, in which the AWBI stated that greyhound/dog racing is both cruel and illegal. The advisory emphasised that these races are prohibited under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, and urged the authorities to ensure compliance with the law and directives from the Hon’ble Supreme Court, as well as to investigate and put a stop to greyhound racing and related activities within their jurisdictions.

 PETA India’s complaint also pointed out that the PCA Act, 1960, specifically criminalises inciting animals to fight with other animals. In the landmark judgment of Animal Welfare Board of India vs A Nagaraja & Ors (Civil Appeal No 5387/2014) of 7 May 2014, the Hon’ble Supreme Court clarified that activities such as animal racing come within the purview of animal fights, as they involve forcing them into competitive and harmful situations, akin to incitement to fight.

 PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram. 

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