Meerut: Injured Horse Forced to Haul Cart—FIR Registered, Abused Horse Seized and Interim Custody Granted to Sanctuary

For Immediate Release:

25 March 2025

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Meerut – After being alerted by a concerned citizen about a wounded mare being used for hauling a carriage in Meerut, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India worked with Nauchandi police officials to register a first information report (FIR) against the mare’s owner. Reportedly, the mare suffered from maggot-infested wounds on her left hind limb and exhibited an abnormal gait, rendering her incapable of any physical exertion. Despite her condition’s evident distress, she was cruelly forced to pull a carriage at the central market in Meerut. The Hon’ble Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Meerut, granted interim custody of the abused mare to the animal protection organisation Animal Rahat, permitting her transfer to an animal sanctuary where she is receiving medical care.

The Nauchandi Police registered an FIR against her owner under Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 3 and 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960. Subsequently, the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer of Meerut conducted a medical examination of the mare and declared her unfit for work.

Photos of the rehabilitated mare are available upon request.

“The mare has endured unimaginable pain and suffering. Forcing unfit animals to work is an offence and extremely cruel. We urge the public to report instances of animal abuse,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Virendra Singh. “PETA India is deeply grateful to the Court of Hon’ble ACJM, Shri Nadeem Anwar, for recognising the mare’s plight and directing her rehabilitation at a sanctuary. We also extend our appreciation to the Nauchandi Police, particularly Station House Officer Shri Ilam Singh and Sub-Inspector Shri Hari Singh, for their swift action by registering the FIR and sending out a strong message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated.”

Rule 3(b) of the Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals Rules, 2017, framed under Section 38 of the PCA Act, empowers the Magistrate to grant interim custody of seized animals to an animal welfare organisation. There are judicial precedents of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, various High Courts and trial courts concerning interim custody of seized animals being vested with animal welfare organisations until the pendency of trial to avoid further abuse.

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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