Mumbai: Cops crackdown on cruel horse cart race on city road | Mumbai News – Times of India
MUMBAI: The Vile Parle police station has registered an FIR against a few horse handlers and also arrested one person, following a detailed inquiry into an illegal and cruel horse cart race conducted by the accused persons on the city roads between Andheri and Santacruz in western suburbs. The PETA India animal rights group had submitted an incriminating video of the horsecart race, which was shot by a concerned motorist who had witnessed the horses being whipped and beaten in order to make them run faster on the concrete road.
The race was organized along the Western Express Highway, and PETA India worked along with the Mumbai police to identify the culprits, so that they can be booked.
The animal protection group became aware of the incident when a whistleblower shared a video, showing numerous men mercilessly whipping and beating horses, forcing them to run amidst the chaos of noisy motorcycles and shouting riders.
PETA India worked with the Additional Commissioner of Police, West Region, Paramjit Singh Dahiya. The FIR has been registered under Sections 279, 336, 289 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(d) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Four horses were seized. Name of one of the accused mentioned in the FIR is Lionel Prior.
“PETA India commends the efforts of the Mumbai Police for sending a clear message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” said PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator, Sunayana Basu. “The mental trauma and physical torture these malnourished and weak horses must have endured is hard to imagine,” she added.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – pointed out in its letter to the Commissioner of Police that the High Court of Bombay, through its 2015 judgment, ruled that none of the stables for horses in Mumbai possess a license under Section 394 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888.
The group also referred to a 2016 Rajasthan High Court order which banned tonga races in the state of Rajasthan following a study report submitted by the Animal Welfare Board of India. The report highlighted that cruelty to horses is inherent when they are forced to run on roads in the midst of traffic– conditions that are frightening and distressing for the horses, as seen during the illegal race on the Western Express Highway.
The race was organized along the Western Express Highway, and PETA India worked along with the Mumbai police to identify the culprits, so that they can be booked.
The animal protection group became aware of the incident when a whistleblower shared a video, showing numerous men mercilessly whipping and beating horses, forcing them to run amidst the chaos of noisy motorcycles and shouting riders.
PETA India worked with the Additional Commissioner of Police, West Region, Paramjit Singh Dahiya. The FIR has been registered under Sections 279, 336, 289 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(d) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Four horses were seized. Name of one of the accused mentioned in the FIR is Lionel Prior.
“PETA India commends the efforts of the Mumbai Police for sending a clear message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” said PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator, Sunayana Basu. “The mental trauma and physical torture these malnourished and weak horses must have endured is hard to imagine,” she added.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – pointed out in its letter to the Commissioner of Police that the High Court of Bombay, through its 2015 judgment, ruled that none of the stables for horses in Mumbai possess a license under Section 394 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888.
The group also referred to a 2016 Rajasthan High Court order which banned tonga races in the state of Rajasthan following a study report submitted by the Animal Welfare Board of India. The report highlighted that cruelty to horses is inherent when they are forced to run on roads in the midst of traffic– conditions that are frightening and distressing for the horses, as seen during the illegal race on the Western Express Highway.
