PETA India Investigation Of Bullock Cart Races In Mysuru Reveals Rampant Cruelty And Injured Bulls

Photographic evidence and eyewitness reports reveal rampant cruelty to bulls during the bullock cart races investigated recently by PETA India  in Mysuru district. The races were held on Saturday and Sunday near Bannur town on the Mysuru-Bannur highway. The evidence proves yet again that activities such as bullock cart races, which are permissible in Karnataka under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Act, 2017, are inherently cruel and that no amount of regulation can prevent such cruelty to bullocks who are used for entertainment.

The photos and videos taken during the bullock cart races on 12 and 13 January reveal that scared bullocks were pushed, pulled by nose ropes as their noses bled, and mercilessly struck with wooden sticks, with the whacks audible 200 to 300 metres away. The animals were also beaten with bare hands at the starting point and during the race, and their tails were bitten, pulled, and twisted to force them to run faster. Whipping marks were visible on bulls’ backs, and some animals had bloody injuries from the whipping and from brushes with the carts. Many exhausted bullocks dropped to the ground at the starting point but were pulled and pushed up by handlers who yanked and bit their tails to force them to race. Some bullock pairs also crashed to the ground and into barricades during the races. Many bullocks who finished the races were frothing at the mouth, salivating heavily, and displaying increased respiratory rates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbEm6-R3ZMA

Following a petition filed by PETA India that seeks to overturn The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Act, 2017, which allows kambala (buffalo racing) events and other bull and bullock cart races in the state, the Supreme Court of India in December 2018 issued notices to the state government of Karnataka, the Animal Welfare Board of India, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The court also tagged this matter with the ongoing cases in which PETA India has challenged similar state laws that allow the use of bulls for jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra.

YOU CAN HELP!

Please write polite letters to the Chief Minister ([email protected]) and Chief Secretary ([email protected]) of Karnataka urging them to revoke the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Act, 2017, and spare bulls the torture of kambala races.