Post bull's death: Peta writes to TN health minister for jallikattu ban

Chennai: Animal rights advocacy group, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), has written to state health minister C. Vijayabaskar, whose bull died during a jallikattu event, seeking his support to repeal an act passed to ensure the conduct of the bull-taming event in Tamil Nadu.

The minister's bull Komban died of head injuries sustained when it hit a wall near the vadivasal (entry point) at the jallikattu event in Pudukottai on Sunday. It was taken to a nearby hospital but could not be saved.

Peta India's head of public policy Nikunj Sharma in a letter to Vijayabaskar referred to media reports quoting the minister as saying that in Komban's death, he felt as if he had lost a 'child'. “Certainly, a good father would take steps to ensure that his other children, whether human or bull, don't suffer the same fate. Because you are the health minister, we hope you will agree that Tamil citizens and bulls should not continue to be injured and killed in this cruel activity”, said the Peta official, adding, “For these reasons, we request that you support a repeal of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017”.

He said young men, who could be sole or primary breadwinners, were killed in jallikattu and so a ban on this “cruel activity would prevent countless injuries and deaths”. The video footage taken during jallikattu events held in several districts of Tamil Nadu after the passage of the Act “reveals rampant cruelty to bulls”.

“The participants hit and tackled bulls and twisted and bit their tails, humans stabbed and jabbed bulls with sickles and other sharp objects. Bulls were deprived of adequate shade, food, and water," Sharma said, adding that unauthorised jallikattu events took place outside designated areas and without permission. "Bulls were commonly injured and sometimes killed, but their deaths often went unreported”.