Doves and Goldfish Seized From Magician by Navi Mumbai Police Following PETA India Complaint
This news release is also available in Hindi and Marathi.
Navi Mumbai, 15th December 2023 (GNI): During a raid this week of a magician who was illegally forcing animals to perform and mutilating birds’ wings to prevent them from flying, Navi Mumbai police, assisted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India representatives, seized and rescued two doves and three goldfish from Magician Shailesh Ramesh. The birds have been transferred to a safe, spacious aviary, and the goldfish have been adopted by a veterinarian and moved into a large tank where they now live with other fish friends.
PETA India submitted a formal complaint at the Nerul police station against the magician, who did not have a performing animals registration certificate and was forcing animals to perform unregistered acts and tricks. After being warned of the legal consequences of using animals illegally, the magician voluntarily surrendered them to PETA India so that they could receive veterinary care and be rehabilitated.
Photographs of the seized animals can be found here.
“Today, even children are increasingly aware that the use of animals for entertainment such as magic tricks involves cruelty. If magicians want to remain relevant in 2023, they will modernise and go animal-free,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Saloni Sakaria. “PETA India commends Navi Mumbai police for their quick action in rescuing the animals.”
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is the prescribed authority under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which regulates the use of animals for performances in the country. The magician had not registered the animals themselves or the animal acts with the AWBI.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram. Ends GNI
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