The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has started spreading awareness amongst the citizens about the cruel practice of using painful spiked bits to control horses at weddings and urging couples to forgo making the animals suffer during the celebrations.
For the same, PETA has erected billboards in Lucknow, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, and Mumbai.
“Spiked bits are torture devices that can injure and traumatise horses for life. PETA India is asking couples to have a heart for horses and leave them out of their wedding day plans,” quoted PETA India Senior Campaign Coordinator, Radhika Suryavanshi.
The practice violates Rule 8 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, which prohibits the use of spiked bits. Despite that, PETA India’s inspections have found these torture devices embedded deep in animals’ mouths, ripping their lips and tongues and causing extreme pain, bloody wounds, immense psychological trauma, and lifelong damage.
With growing awareness towards the cruelty of spiked bits, numerous wedding parties are now opting for horse-free baraat options, from simply walking to arriving in fancy cars and even dropping in by helicopter.
Actor and comedian Raju Srivastava recently starred in a video, highlighting the suffering of horses used for weddings and other ceremonies.
Also, read: A Grand Wedding Or A Happy Marriage? The Choice Is Always Yours.
PETA has been constantly standing up for horses. A few days ago, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has sought an inquiry in connection with the death of a horse allegedly during the shooting of filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s Tamil historical drama Ponniyin Selvan. The Police registered a case after a volunteer of PETA India, filed a complaint stating that a horse died during the shooting of the movie at a private land near a film studio on August 11.