Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday banned buffalo and bulbul bird fights by setting aside and quashing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the Assam government of 2023 that allowed these events during a specific time in January.The order was based on writ petitions filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. The court passed the order after hearing detailed submissions made by PETA India’s counsel, senior advocate Diganta Das.PETA India argued that buffalo and bulbul fights violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and that the bulbul fights additionally violate the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.The court held the SOP to be violative of the May 7, 2014, judgement passed by the Supreme Court in the Animal Welfare Board of India versus A Nagaraja case.As evidence, PETA India had submitted investigations into these fights, which revealed that terrified and severely injured buffaloes were forced to fight through beatings and that starved and intoxicated bulbuls were made to fight over food.
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