Victory: Following PETA India Pressure, Two Illegal Bull Races Stopped in Punjab

PETA India sprang into action after learning that bull races were scheduled to take place in Bachhauri village, Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar district, on 3 and 5 April. Our Emergency Response Team worked closely with SBS Nagar officials, including the District Collector and the Senior Superintendent of Police. The 3 April event – in which calves were to be raced – was prevented from going ahead, and an assurance has been given that the race scheduled for 5 April has been cancelled, preventing numerous bulls from being tormented.

On 8 March, after hearing an urgent petition filed by PETA India challenging the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2019, which would allow cruel bullock cart races to be held at the annual Kila Raipur Sports Festival held near Ludhiana, the Additional Advocate General appearing for the Punjab state assured the court that “no permission either has been granted or will be granted for holding any Bullock Cart Race” and that “till such time the proposed amendment receive the Presidential assent, no application for permission for hosting any such event would be entertained”.

Several investigations conducted by PETA India reveal that during bullock cart races, bulls are often beaten mercilessly with wooden sticks that are spiked with nails in order to get them to run faster in the sweltering heat and that their tails are twisted and snapped, causing them extreme pain and leaving them covered with blood. During the Kila Raipur Sports Festival in February 2014 – before the Supreme Court of India banned bullock cart races – three bulls were injured, one sustaining a knee fracture, when a number of them ran out of control. During the same event, another pair of panicked bulls were injured when they smashed into vehicles in the parking area. Our petitions in the Supreme Court seek to challenge the constitutional validity of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu state laws aiming to allow the use of bulls for performances and thereby to have them overturned.

Please help protect Maharashtra’s bulls from abuse in bullock cart races: