PETA India Works With Thane Rural Police to Stop Cruel Bullock Cart Race

When we learned that a bullock cart race was scheduled to take place on 10 March in Ambarje village, near Shahapur in the Thane district, we sprang into action and worked with the Thane Rural district Superintendent of Police to stop the illegal and cruel spectacle.

During races, bulls are often beaten mercilessly with wooden sticks that are spiked with nails in order to get them to run in the sweltering heat, and the painful twisting and biting of their tails is common. Such events are also a threat to public safety.

In October, in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by Ajay Marathe, in 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 it stayed the operation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2017, which aims to allow bullock cart races in the state. The High Court pointed out that the Supreme Court has categorically stated that bulls are not anatomically suited to racing. In September 2017, PETA India filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking its direction to strike down the state law that aims to legalise bullock cart races, and the matter will be heard by a Constitutional Bench.

Join us in urging the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to protect bulls from abuse in bullock cart races.