A PIL in the Bombay High Court has urged the Maharashtra government to put an end to the practice of cock fights as the birds either get injured or die during such events.
The petitioner N G Jayasimha said he had come across a pamphlet which mentioned that a cock fight would be organised on January 2, 2015 in Aashele village at Ganpat Nagar in Ulhasnagar town of nearby Thane district.
The petitioner, who is also a Director of the Humane Society International, India, an animal welfare organisation based in Hyderabad, said that he had written letters to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Phadnavis and the state government seeking to stop cock fights proposed to be held in Ulhasnagar.
Since Jayasimha did not get any response from the authorities, he moved the High Court and sought action against cock fight organisers, Mahesh Tare and Prakash Tare, saying such events violate provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
According to the petition, cock fights are events where two roosters are placed in a small fighting ring and are incited to fight each other. The roosters used to fight may be specially bred, trained to fight or given steroids in order to make them more aggressive in a fight.
Usually, blades or a small iron hook, is attached to the feet of these roosters to increase the damage inflicted on the other bird participating in the fight, the PIL said.
A cock fight may last from a few minutes to half an hour, and no matter how exhausted the rooster is, it has to continue and cannot exit the restricted fighting space. The fight may end with the death of one or both the birds, the PIL submitted.
