Victory: Illegal Buffalo Fighting Event Called off in Raigad, Following PETA India Complaint
After being alerted to a promotional video on social media about a buffalo fighting event being hosted at Pimpalwadi village in Mahad taluka of Raigad district, Maharashtra, on 25 December, PETA India promptly and successfully took action to stop the event by notifying and collaborating with Raigad police. The Mahad Police issued a notice to the organisers of the illegal buffalo fighting event, instructing them to cancel the scheduled event. The organisers, who had planned the fight in celebration of Shri Vikas Gogawale’s birthday, a core committee member of Shiv Sena’s Maharashtra Yuva Sena and the Yuva Sena Secretary for the Konkan region, complied with the directive. They provided written confirmation to the police, ensuring that no such illegal events violating the law would be conducted.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, prohibits inciting animals to fight with each other. In a landmark judgment in 2014, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favour of the petitioners, PETA India, and the government advisory body, the Animal Welfare Board of India, establishing that bullfighting, dogfighting, and any other staged fights between animals, including between humans and other animals, for entertainment, must end.
Buffalo fighting involves pitting two buffaloes against each other in a violent and often bloody confrontation. The animals are hit and goaded into fighting until one is deemed the winner. Similarly, bulls are pitted against each other, forced into aggressive encounters, and often provoked using painful methods. The goal is to incite violence between the animals for entertainment or gambling. These events subject the animals to significant physical and psychological harm, including fractures, puncture wounds, and severe stress.
