Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Department, With Support from PETA India, Seizes 120 Illegal Spiked Bits Used to Control Horses for Weddings and Tourist Riding in Mount Abu and Sirohi

For Immediate Release:

25 July 2026

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Sirohi – In a significant awareness-cum-enforcement drive, Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Department (Rajasthan AHD) with the support from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India), seized 120 metal spiked (or “thorn”) bits used to control horses through pain, sending a strong message that weddings, tourist ride operations, and other activities must not involve such cruelty to animals. With active support from PETA India teams, the officials confiscated the torture devices, which are deliberately designed to cut into the sensitive gum and lip skin in the animals’ mouths, for using horses in the money-making enterprise. On 24 July, these torture devices were displayed at the Government First Grade Veterinary Hospital, in Palri M, Sirohi – 307043. PETA India hopes the display encourages families to celebrate weddings without involving animals. The use of spiked bits – deliberately designed to incise animals’ mouths – violates Rule 8 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, and each one removed was replaced with a painless, smooth bit. Similar law enforcement drives have also been conducted by the Animal Husbandry departments and local police, with support from PETA India in Jaipur, Mysore, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Agra, as well as in multiple districts in Punjab, where hundreds of spiked bits were seized.

Photos from the awareness-cum-enforcement drive are available upon request.

“Spiked bits are horrendous devices used to control horses through pain, often bloodying their lips and tongues and causing lifelong physical and psychological damage,” says PETA India’s Policy Associate, Chumki Dutta. “PETA India urges horse owners to abandon these illegal torture tools and appeals to the public to choose mechanized transportation to relieve horses from unconsented labour that comes at the cost of their suffering.”

“The continued use of spiked bits stems from the false belief that horses require painful devices to remain under control, when in fact these tools only inflict severe injury and distress,” says PETA India’s Senior Manager of Mechanisation Projects, Mahesh Tyagi. “PETA India urges the authorities to encourage the adoption of humane, mechanised alternatives instead of dependency on animals.”

“Tourism and celebrations should never come at the cost of an animal’s well-being”, says Veterinary Officer, Rajasthan AHD, Sirohi, Dr. Aves Khan. “Spiked bits are cruel devices that inflict pain, cause injuries, and compromise the well-being of horses. This awareness-cum-seizure drive is a welcome and necessary measure to prevent such abuse, provide relief to horses, and uphold the Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965.”

As public awareness of the cruelty of spiked bits grows, numerous wedding parties are opting for horse and other animal-free baraat options, from simply walking to arriving in fancy cars and even dropping in by helicopter. Celebrity couples whose weddings were animal-free include Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Rukmini Sahay, Zaheer Khan and Sagarika Ghatge, Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi, Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja, and Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal.

Using horses, elephants, camels, or any other animals for weddings is an outdated practice that supports such abuse.

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 launched a nationwide campaign aimed at helping police enforce the ban, and Animal Husbandry authorities in raising awareness on using illegal spiked bits on horses based on the results of a multi-state survey of government efforts to enforce the ban. After being contacted by PETA India, several other states and union territories – including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Nagaland, and Rajasthan – also issued orders mandating the enforcement of this prohibition. PETA India is campaigning not only for police and Animal Husbandry authorities to search for and confiscate illegally used devices, but also for legislation to be introduced to close a loophole that still allows the manufacture and sale of these devices.

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

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