Monkeys Illegally Kept Captive for Weeks Rescued by Vijayawada Forest Department After PETA India Prompt

For Immediate Release:

28 July 2022

Contact:

Deepak Chaudhary; [email protected]

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]

Vijayawada – Following a complaint from a concerned citizen, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India successfully urged Vijayawada forest department officials to rescue a troop of monkeys who were being kept in a cage at the office premises of the local Directorate of Medical Education (DME), apparently for weeks, without food and water.

The complainant alleged that the monkeys who were captured, supposedly merely for being on DME premises, were so traumatised that they had started to self-mutilate and harm each other. The forest department rescued the monkeys within an hour of the complaint and released them in the nearby forest after a medical check-up. Capturing monkeys is a gross violation of sections 9, 39, and 51 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972.

“It’s important that smart, social monkeys be reunited with their friends and families in nature and that people do not take conflicts with wild animals into their own hands,” says PETA India Emergency Response Manager Deepak Chaudhary. “PETA India encourages all kind people to discourage monkeys simply by keeping windows, grills, and garbage bins closed and to contact the local forest department if they need more help.”

PETA India’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”. Exploiting monkeys for profit and keeping them in captivity are morally wrong and punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine of up to Rs 25,000, or both, under the WPA, 1972.

To report illegal cruelty to animals or emergencies involving them, please call PETA India on (0) 98201 22602.

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

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