After Supreme Court stayed the central government’s notification of allowing bull-taming Jallikattu festival in Tamil Nadu, animal rights groups have welcomed the directive. The petitioners were Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organization (FIAPO), Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA), and People for Animals (PFA).
Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, trustee of People For Animals, spoke to ScoopWhoop and here are their arguments:
- “The very idea of bull racing in itself is cruel and illogical. Bulls are not anatomically suited to run the way they are required to in the sport. They only run when they are scared.”
- “The bulls are deliberately disoriented by giving them substances like alcohol. They are subjected to worst forms of brutal abuses. Their tails get twisted and bitten, get stabbed and jabbed by sickles, spears, knives or sticks and are punched, jumped on and dragged to the ground. During races, they are sometimes hit with nail-studded sticks and pushed beyond the point of exhaustion.”
- “The sport is extremely dangerous in nature. Hundreds of human participants get injured each year. Between 2010 and 2014, approximately 1,100 injuries were reported and 17 people, including a child, died.
- “The Article 51-A (g) of the Indian Constitution makes it the mandate of every Indian citizen ‘to have compassion for living creatures’.”.
(With inputs from PTI)
(Feature image source: PTI)