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Another FIR Registered for Alleged Cruelty to Horse Used to Haul Tourist Carriage in Kolkata Following Complaint by PETA India and CAPE Foundation
Kolkata – On Monday, following a complaint filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and the CAPE Foundation, Kolkata police registered a first information report (FIR) against a horse owner and an event management company for allegedly using a debilitated horse with serious untreated wounds and severe lameness in a marriage ceremony. The deep wounds on the horse’s legs, which were reportedly caused by a road accident, were hidden with lime. Just two weeks ago, an FIR was registered against a carriage owner and his accomplices for allegedly treating a horse with negligence after the animal collapsed on the busy road in front of the Victoria Memorial.
Videos and screenshots of the incidents, an investigative video of Kolkata horses’ plight, and a factsheet on road accidents in the city involving horses can be found here.
The latest FIR is registered under Sections 3, 11(1)(a), 11(1)(b), and 11(1)(h) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, and Section 289 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The FIR for the horse collapse includes Section 11(1)(b) of the PCA Act, 1960, and Sections 34 and 289 of the IPC, 1860. The complainants stated that the owners of the horses were negligent regarding their nutrition and care and caused them unnecessary pain and suffering.
“Forcing often malnourished, thirsty, and wounded horses to haul people in carriages and for rides through city traffic is cruel and dangerous. Horse-drawn carriages are already prohibited in Mumbai and horse-drawn tongas are banned in Delhi because horses and cars do not mix,” says PETA India veterinarian Dr Nithin Krishnegowda. “Kind tourists are revolted by the sight of skinny, abused horses and their poor conditions. A prohibition on rides using horses in Kolkata is necessary.”
“The very act of forcing these horses to ply on Kolkata’s busy roads is permanently damaging the animals’ health,” says Radhika Bose, managing trustee of the CAPE Foundation. “Regulation has failed, and now it’s time to give these horses relief by permanently removing them from Kolkata’s roads and rehabilitating them in sanctuaries.”
A recent report by PETA India and the CAPE Foundation reveals that more than 100 horses used for rides in the city are anaemic, malnourished, and chronically starved; some suffer from severe injuries, including bone fractures; and 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. A factsheet in the report lists 10 road accidents in Kolkata involving horses, highlighting the dangers of using them to haul tourists. Such accidents cause the animals unnecessary pain and suffering and pose potential safety risks to the passengers in the carriage and commuters on the road.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
