Help Amend the Law to End Animal Sacrifice

PETA India has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that Section 28 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 – which allows any animal to be killed in any manner for religious purposes – be deleted. The central government is currently in the process of amending the Act, and in April 2021, we submitted our recommendations – including a ban on animal sacrifice – to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). 

The exemption given for animal sacrifice goes against the very purpose of the PCA Act, as it causes unnecessary pain and suffering to animals and is outdated in a modern society. 

PETA India has also sent out another round of letters to the directors general of police of all state governments and union territories, and the AWBI has issued another advisory to states, urging them to take precautionary measures to stop illegal practices in the transport and killing of animals in the lead-up to Eid al-Adha.

Animal sacrifice in the country involves a variety of species, including goats, buffaloes, chickens, camels, deer, and owls. The horrifying practices – depending on the community performing them – include beheading, slitting animals’ throats, attacking them with sharp instruments, tearing them apart, and other cruel means. The use of wild animals for religious sacrifice is a violation of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022, which protects most indigenous wild species from hunting and capture. 

Gujarat, Kerala, Puducherry, and Rajasthan already have laws in place prohibiting religious sacrifice of any animal in any temple or its precinct. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana prohibit it in any place of public religious worship or adoration or its precinct or in any congregation or procession connected with religious worship on a public street. Their actions demonstrate that progressive steps are needed to implement a similar prohibition throughout India.

You can help us ban animal sacrifice by signing the form below. The compiled signatures will be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Cabinet Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh.

Appeal:

Dear Officials,

Section 28 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, allows any animal to be killed in any manner for religious purposes. The exemption given for animal sacrifice goes against the very purpose of the PCA Act, as it causes unnecessary pain and suffering to animals and is outdated in a modern society. 

Animal sacrifice in the country involves a variety of species, including goats, buffaloes, chickens, camels, deer, and owls. The horrifying practices – depending on the community performing them – include beheading, slitting animals’ throats, attacking them with sharp instruments, tearing them apart, and other cruel means. 

Gujarat, Kerala, Puducherry, and Rajasthan already have laws in place prohibiting religious sacrifice of any animal in any temple or its precinct. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana prohibit it in any place of public religious worship or adoration or its precinct or in any congregation or procession connected with religious worship on a public street. Their actions demonstrate that progressive steps are needed to implement a similar prohibition throughout India.

I request that Section 28 of the PCA Act, 1960, be removed.

Sincerely,

[Your Signature]

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