Sangli: Illegal Horse-Cart Race Prevented Following PETA India Complaint 

For Immediate Release:

6 August 2025

Contact:  

Meet Ashar; [email protected]  

Hiral Laljani; [email protected] 

Sangli— Acting swiftly upon receiving information about a poster being circulated promoting an illegal horse-cart race scheduled for 01 August 2025 at Miraj Dambari Patta Khatib Hall, Sangli, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) worked closely with the Sangli police to ensure that the illegal event was successfully prevented. 

“Horse and horse cart races are cruel as they force animals to endure extreme physical strain, often causing injury, exhaustion, and even death,” says Virendra Singh, Cruelty Response Coordinator at PETA India. “These horses already have a hard life without being forced to endure the additional torment of being beaten and compelled to race. We commend the Sangli Police, particularly Shri Sandip Ghuge, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Sangli; Shri Praneel Gilda, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Miraj; and Shri Sandeep Shinde, Station House Officer, Mahatma Gandhi Chowk Police Station, for upholding the law and protecting the horses from abuse.”  

Horses used for racing are forced to sprint through whippings and weapons at speeds so fast they frequently sustain injuries and can even haemorrhage from the lungs. In 2016, the Rajasthan High Court prohibited tonga races in Rajasthan after reviewing a report from the Animal Welfare Board of India. The report highlighted that horses suffer from cruelty when they are compelled to run amid noisy vehicles and loud spectators, causing them fear and distress. 

PETA India – whose motto reads, “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – 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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