Over 50 Bull Protectors Draped in Red Veils to Plead for an End to Bloodshed in Races, Fights, and Jallikattu

For Immediate Release:

27 September 2024

Contact:

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]

Atharva Deshmukh; [email protected]

Delhi – On Friday, dozens of supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, in collaboration with the Aashray Foundation and students from the JD Institute of Fashion Technology, will gather at Jantar Mantar wearing horns and draped in blood-red veils to symbolise the pain and cruelty bulls and other animals are subjected to during spectacles like races, fights, and jallikattu. The activists, led by a demonstrator wearing a striking white, skeletal bull mask, will carry signs reading, “Stop Bull Bloodshed: End Races, Fights, and Jallikattu,” to call for an end to the violent – and often deadly – events.

When:             Friday, 27 September, 12 noon sharp

Where:           The Dharna Road at Jantar Mantar, Connaught Place, Sansad Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001

“We Indians are known around the world for our compassion for animals, yet there is a disturbing trend in our country of holding events in which bulls or other animals are tortured,” says PETA India Campaigns Coordinator Atharva Deshmukh. “These spectacles perpetuate toxic masculinity by wrongly equating bullying animals with bravery. But true strength and valour lie in standing up for animals and other vulnerable members of society.”

“At JD Institute, we shape visionaries who combine creativity with compassion. By joining PETA India in opposing any kind of bullying towards animals, our students demonstrate that true artistry goes beyond aesthetics to uplift humanity and advocate for ethical causes,” says JD Image Promotions (the parent company of the JD Institute of Fashion Technology) Managing Director Mrs. Rupal Dalal. “We nurture changemakers who stand for what’s right, blending innovation with empathy. For us, fashion is about wearing values proudly and making a positive impact. We are proud to support PETA India’s mission and remain committed to advocating for a kinder, more compassionate world.”

As prey animals, bulls are inherently nervous and fear predation, so those who use them for races, fights, and jallikattu incite them to run by causing them pain, panic, and fear. PETA India has documented that bulls (including buffaloes) who are used for races and fights are hit with sticks and their tailbones are deliberately twisted and broken by participants. PETA India has also gathered video evidence over many years showing that bulls are forced into jallikattu arenas by being jabbed with sickles or nail-tipped sticks, yanked by nose ropes, or bitten on their tail.

In 2014, the Supreme Court passed a detailed and well-reasoned judgment in Animal Welfare Board of India vs A Nagaraja & Ors that holding jallikattu and other bull performances would be in violation of the rights guaranteed to animals under the Constitution of India and The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. However, after this judgment was passed, beginning in 2017, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra amended animal protection law for their states to allow jallikattu, kambala, and bullock cart races, respectively. On 18 May 2023, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court also enabled these events to continue in these states.

Most recently, the Supreme Court agreed to consider an e-mail petition filed by PETA India and other animal rights entities requesting that petitions from these groups and those of others seeking a reversal of the 18 May 2023 judgment be urgently reviewed.

Since 2017, at least 42 bulls and 126 humans, including children, have died at jallikattu events. Bulls and humans have also been severely hurt or killed at other events using bulls. Since 2017, there has been an increase in attempts to hold other events that abuse animals throughout the country, such as fox jallikattu, buffalo and bull fighting, bulbul fighting, cockfighting, and dogfighting.

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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