Calcutta High Court Directs State to Submit Policy to Spare Victoria Horses Suffering Following PETA India Petition
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court headed by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava directed the West Bengal government to place on record a policy to address the miserable conditions of horses used to haul tourist carriages near Victoria Memorial before the next hearing on 28 February. The court issued this order following public interest litigation filed by PETA India and CAPE Foundation seeking an end to the use of horses for carriage rides near the memorial.
The court noted that the state government met with the petitioners and the issue has been referred to the West Bengal Department of Home Affairs. The court also allowed the petitioners and other affected parties to submit their suggestions on the policy to A Banerjee, the counsel for the state government, who will forward the proposals to the home department for its consideration.
The petition filed by PETA India follows a recent study revealing that more than 100 horses used to pull tourist carriages in the city are anaemic, malnourished, and chronically starved; that some have severe injuries, including bone fractures; and that many are forced to live amid their own waste on filthy, decrepit, and illegally occupied premises in the city, including an encroachment area under a flyover. PETA India recently submitted a detailed proposal to the joint commissioner of police (traffic) offering to take responsibility for the rehabilitation of unfit, unlicensed, and abandoned horses seized by Kolkata police or other law-enforcement authorities, with the support of local NGOs and animal sanctuaries.
A factsheet in PETA India’s report lists about 10 road accidents in Kolkata involving horses, highlighting the dangers of using them to haul tourists. The petition also points out that horse-drawn carriages in Kolkata apparently violate various provisions of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980; and the Calcutta Hackney-Carriage Act, 1919.
The petition mentions that after the Bombay High Court prohibited horse-drawn carriages in 2015, following efforts by PETA India and other groups, carriage owners and drivers in Mumbai started successfully operating eco-friendly electric carriages instead.
