Police file FIR, for sacrificing chicken in temple on PETA complaint

Mysuru: Mysuru Police have filed an FIR against a temple, for sacrificing a chicken in a temple, following a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.

After learning that a chicken had been sacrificed at Sri Pratyangira Yogeshwari Bhagavati Temple in Yelwala, Mysuru, PETA India worked with Mysuru rural police officials to register a first information report (FIR).

The sacrifice was video recorded and carried out in full public view. The person performing the sacrifice can be seen, twisting and wringing her neck and ripping her feathers out. before slitting her throat and tossing her severed head into the air.

The FIR has been registered at Yelwala Station, under Sections 3, 5, and 6 of Karnataka Prevention of Animal Sacrifices Act, 1959, and Sections 34 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, against an unknown person.

PETA India cruelty response coordinator Sinchana Subramanyan said, “Animal sacrifice is both cruel to animals and dangerous to society. It desensitises people to violence, while reinforcing obsolete beliefs that hinder progress. Just as human sacrifice is now treated as murder, the archaic practice of animal sacrifice must end”.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that animals can be slaughtered only in licensed slaughterhouses and that municipal authorities must ensure compliance with this ruling. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, and the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, permit the slaughter of animals for food, only in licensed slaughterhouses, equipped with species-specific stunning equipment,” Sinchana said.

Gujarat, Kerala, Puducherry and Rajasthan already have laws prohibiting religious sacrifice of any animal in any temple or its precinct. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana prohibit it in any place of public religious worship or adoration or its precinct or in any congregation or procession connected with religious worship on a public street.