PETA Slams Government Decision To Allow Jallikattu And Bull Races, Vows To Fight In The Supreme Court
Author(s): City Air NewsNew Delhi, January 8, 2016: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India Chief Executive Officer Poorva Joshipura has slammed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change decision to permit...
cityairnews
Jan 8, 2016 10:30
0
New Delhi, January 8, 2016: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India Chief Executive Officer Poorva Joshipura has slammed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change decision to permit events like jallikattu and bull races again via a7th January 2016 notification in the Gazette of India vowing to continue the fight to protect bulls from cruelty in the Supreme Court.
PETA India has documented that during jallikattu, terrified bulls are often deliberately disoriented through substances like alcohol; have their tails twisted and bitten; are stabbed and jabbed by sickles, spears, knives or sticks; are punched, jumped on and dragged to the ground.
Says Joshipura, “Our phones have been ringing off the hook this morning with calls from BJP supporters and others who are horrified that the same authorities who claim to care about cattle are now allowing the cruelty to cattle that was already banned by the highest court of India. The use of bulls in performances was in fact earlier banned by the Environment Ministry itself in 2011, and the causing of suffering that is inherent in jallikattu, bull races and bull fights has been illegal since 1960 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. This U-turn is being seen by many of the BJP’s own supporters as reckless, heartless, and weak. We vow to take our fight to protect bulls from cruelty back to the Supreme Court.”
She further warns, “Lifting the protection against cruelty that was afforded to bulls is a black mark on our nation, which has always been looked up to by people around the world for our cultural reverence for animals. Towns in Ecuador, Venezuela, France, Portugal and Colombia have declared themselves to be against bullfighting, and Catalonia, a region in Spain, has banned it. India will now be considered archaic and backward as sensibilities around the world are changing in favour of animal protection.”
As calculated from various media reports, from 2010 to 2014, there were approximately 1,100 human injuries and 17 deaths as a result of jallikattu-type events including that of a child.
During races, bulls are often hit with nail-studded sticks. In bullfights, the round ends when one of the bulls manages to flee (or is even killed).
PETA India’s online petition that was urging the government to keep the ban on jallikattu, bull races and bullfights had been signed by nearly 60,000 people in India alone. A Change.org petition regarding the same that was put up only a few days ago has been signed by over 5,000.
Date:
Friday, January 8, 2016
