Six Men Booked for Illegal Bullock Cart Racing in Palakkad After PETA India Complaint

For Immediate Release:

24 September 2024

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Palakkad – Following a report by the Times of India about the Kalappootu bull race that took place at Thonipadam in Palakkad’s Alathur, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India collaborated with Palakkad police officials to get a first information report (FIR) registered against those accused of organising and participating in the illegal event.

A copy of FIR is available upon request.

The FIR was registered suo moto on Saturday by Alathur Police Station, reportedly against three members of the bull race committee, along with one known and two unidentified persons, for using two pairs of bulls in an illegal race. The FIR states that the accused conducted the bull race unlawfully, overexerted the bulls by forcing them to race, and subjected them to abuse, endangering both the animals and the spectators. The FIR was registered under sections 125 and 291 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which address negligent conduct regarding animals and acts that endanger the life or personal safety of others, as well as sections 3 and 11(1)(a) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, which criminalises the whipping, beating, and inflicting of unnecessary pain and suffering on animals.

“The Supreme Court and the High Court of Kerala have made clear that bull races are illegal, and there’s no place in civilised society for whipping bulls and twisting and biting their tails, as is common at such events to force them to run,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Virendra Singh. “We commend Station House Officer of the Alathur Police Station Sri Riyas Chakeri for promptly registering the FIR and sending a clear message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated.”

Bulls used for work already have a hard life without the additional torment of being forced to race. During races, terrified bulls run in an effort to escape pain. They’re commonly yanked by their nose ropes to the starting line and hit with bare hands and weapons like nail-studded sticks, and their tailbones are often broken at the joint in an attempt to force them to run faster.

In a similar incident on 8 December 2021, following a complaint from PETA India, the Malampuzha Police registered a suo moto FIR against the accused. Subsequently, on 19 May 2022, the Hon’ble Court of Judicial First Class Magistrate III, Palakkad, in CC No. 239/2022, delivered a judgememt convicting all the accused under sections 289 and 336 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sections 3 and 11(1)(a) of the PCA Act, 1960.

On 8 September 2015, the High Court of Kerala passed an order stating that it is bound by the observations and views of the 2014 Supreme Court judgement upholding the ban imposed by the central government’s notification dated 7 July 2011. The court pointed out that the Supreme Court has categorically stated that bulls are not anatomically suited to racing.

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

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