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Goats are inquisitive, playful, and extremely social animals who will bravely protect the other members of their herd from danger. Yet these remarkable animals are abused in hideous ways by the meat and milk industries.
Now, PETA India is sharing video footage of goats in the Alwar district of Rajasthan who were subjected to cruel, painful practices – treatment that's routine throughout India.
As shown, goats were denied proper veterinary care for serious and painful conditions, including a maggot-infested wound, an infected udder, and a fractured leg. Several goats were confined to crowded pens and restricted with ropes so short that the animals could barely move. Sticks were forced into baby goats' mouths to prevent them from drinking their mothers' milk so that it could be sold for human consumption instead. Male goats were pinned down and castrated without any painkillers.
These animals' deaths are miserable, just like their lives. Some are sent on days-long treks in scorching heat to slaughterhouses far away. The terrified animals are forced to stand on blood- and offal-covered floors, watching while other goats are slaughtered right in front of them. Despite the law, slaughterers don't stun goats before killing them, and the animals kick and try to escape after their necks have been crudely cut.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, and the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, require that the slaughter of animals for food take place only in registered or licensed slaughterhouses equipped with species-specific stunning equipment. The Supreme Court ruled that animals can only be slaughtered in licensed slaughterhouses and that municipal authorities must ensure compliance with this ruling.
Please join PETA India in calling for the enforcement of these laws, the closure of illegal slaughterhouses, the humane castration of goats, and SPCA inspections to address the systemic cruelty to animals on farms, during transport, and in slaughterhouses.
Also, please, if you haven't already, help spare other animals terrible suffering and death by going vegan. The cruelty uncovered in Rajasthan is not an isolated incident – it's inherent in the meat and milk industries, which treat animals as commodities instead of as the intelligent, sensitive individuals they are. Going vegan is the best way to help stop these atrocities.