With temples scattered across Pune district, action against animal slaughter has been hard to eradicate completely
City officer has written to PMC, police chief and others, decrying open sacrifices, especially during religious festivals
Pune-based animal welfare board officer Meher Mathrani has written to various administrative bodies in the city, including the police commissioner, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner, chief secretary of Maharashtra, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Animal Husbandry department and Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) to take action against temples engaging in public slaughter of animals for religious purposes. The letter highlighted how animal sacrifice flouts several norms, including Slaughter House Rules, 2001 and the Prevention of Cruelty Act, 1960.
The open sacrifice right before the month of Shravan also has temples where people cook the meat within the premises and distribute among devotees. This, according to the letter, goes disregarded by the police. It also spoke of how the meat goes unchecked by vets and is still consumed by humans. The letter requested authorities to hand out memos to people to sensitise them to these issues.
“Sacrifice affects children who are continuously exposed to cruelty to animals. It is visually extremely disturbing and desensitises the child, who subsequently grows up to be a desensitised adult. With all the strife we see on a daily basis, we must encourage compassion and sensitivity. It is the duty of government agencies to enforce laws, rather than leave it to NGOs and activists who face a lot of danger when trying to stop such sacrifices. We cannot be a smart city if we ignore these issues,” said Mathrani, animal welfare officer (h) and head, Action for Animals against Cruelty and Trauma (AaCT), India.
Responding to her plea, assistant police commissioner (special branch) Ravindra Rasal, said, “We always ensure that police stations around the vicinity educate temple authorities to not engage in public slaughter of animals. The slaughter should take place only at a registered slaughterhouse. If we get complaints, we will act against the temple or the group, but it is not possible to keep a check on all temples. Also, this becomes a sensitive matter since it pertains to religion.”
Speaking to Mirror, animal rights activist Manoj Oswal said, “The process of banning slaughter cannot happen at the spur of the moment. One cannot suddenly ask devotees to stop a practice that has been going on for long. Since it involves religious sentiment, even police intervention becomes difficult. This will require prior planning and a threelayered process. First, we speak to the temple trustees and explain the religious importance of banning slaughter. Without their cooperation, we will not be able to proceed. Once we convince them, we speak to local authorities like the police who create a detailed plan. This would include a geographical map of which temples within their jurisdiction practice public slaughter. The court orders are presented to them and we try to convince them legally. The final stage includes the process of spreading awareness among the public. Pune district is a difficult place - temples are sporadically distributed and mass slaughter does not occur. This is why we have not been able to stop them completely.”
On Monday, a police complaint was filed at Vimantal police station against a temple opposite Symbiosis institute, which had kept a goat to be slaughtered for sacrifice the next day. The temple caretakers said that it was unfair to target only them and get the police involved.
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