Tue Dec 17 14:55:24 UTC 2024: ## Gauhati High Court Bans Traditional Animal Fights in Assam
**Guwahati, Assam –** The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday struck down an Assam government standard operating procedure (SOP) that permitted traditional buffalo and bulbul bird fights during the Magh Bihu festival. The court ruled the SOP violated the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960 and, in the case of the bulbul fights, the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
The decision follows a petition filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, which presented evidence of animal cruelty during these events. PETA’s investigations revealed buffaloes were forced to fight through beatings, sustaining injuries to their necks, ears, faces, and foreheads. Bulbuls, a protected species, were illegally captured, drugged, and starved before being forced to fight over food.
The court accepted PETA’s argument that the fights contravened a 2014 Supreme Court ruling on animal welfare. PETA India’s lead legal counsel, Arunima Kedia, stated that the animals were forced into “bloody fights in front of jeering crowds,” inflicting unnecessary pain and terror. The court’s decision effectively bans these traditional practices in Assam.
First Piper 