Following PETA India Complaint, Cruel Bullock Cart Races Stopped

When PETA India learned that bullock cart races were being held on weekends during low tide in the village of Thal in the Alibag district, the group sprang into action. Its Emergency Response Team notified the Raigad Superintendent of Police and worked with district police officials to prevent the illegal events from taking place.

PETA India notes that during races, participants often beat bulls mercilessly with nail-studded wooden sticks in order to make them run in the sweltering heat and commonly twist and bite their tails, causing them immense pain. Such events are also a threat to public safety.

In October, in response to public interest litigation filed by Ajay Marathe to stop bullock cart races – in support of which PETA India filed an intervention application – the High Court of Bombay passed an order stating that it’s bound by the observations and views of the 2014 Supreme Court judgment that banned bullock cart races across the country and stayed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2017, which aimed to allow these races to be held in the state. The High Court pointed out that the Supreme Court has categorically stated that bulls aren’t anatomically suited to racing. In September 2017, PETA India filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to have the state law that aims to legalise bullock cart races struck down, and the matter will be heard by a constitutional bench.

Join us in urging the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to help abused bulls used in bullock cart races: