Mumbai:
Actress Jacqueline Fernandez has senta letter to the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner, asking him tostop "cruel" horse-drawn carriage rides in the city, on behalfPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.
The letter by the Bollywood star and former Miss SriLanka comes in the wake of a recent incident in which a horsecollapsed after being forced to pull a heavy carriage nearChhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, "an all-too-common occurrenceamong horses who are used for joy rides in the city," aPETA release said.
"I have observed so many similar heartbreaking incidents,and I can't be a silent spectator to this abuse anymore",writes Fernandez.
She goes on to discuss a PETA investigation which foundthat horses used for carriage rides were kept in filthy, dampstables and left to stand amidst their own feces and urine.
"Horses simply don't belong on the streets, and theycertainly don't deserve to be forced to pull carriages beyondthe point of exhaustion", she wrote. "I urge you to pleasetake immediate action to stop this cruel form ofentertainment."
PETA investigators also discovered that horses are fedunwholesome food and dirty drinking water if they receiveany nourishment at all, the release said. Stables are ofteninfested with flies and other biting insects attracted by theanimals' waste. Many horses are forced to work and stand forhours in the blazing sun without any shade, it added.
Carts are also dangerous as horses must negotiate busystreets clogged with cars, bikes and pedestrians and are ofteninvolved in deadly accidents. Over the years, many horses andeven people have been seriously injured and killed, PETA said.
The letter by the Bollywood star and former Miss SriLanka comes in the wake of a recent incident in which a horsecollapsed after being forced to pull a heavy carriage nearChhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, "an all-too-common occurrenceamong horses who are used for joy rides in the city," aPETA release said.
"I have observed so many similar heartbreaking incidents,and I can't be a silent spectator to this abuse anymore",writes Fernandez.
She goes on to discuss a PETA investigation which foundthat horses used for carriage rides were kept in filthy, dampstables and left to stand amidst their own feces and urine.
"Horses simply don't belong on the streets, and theycertainly don't deserve to be forced to pull carriages beyondthe point of exhaustion", she wrote. "I urge you to pleasetake immediate action to stop this cruel form ofentertainment."
PETA investigators also discovered that horses are fedunwholesome food and dirty drinking water if they receiveany nourishment at all, the release said. Stables are ofteninfested with flies and other biting insects attracted by theanimals' waste. Many horses are forced to work and stand forhours in the blazing sun without any shade, it added.
Carts are also dangerous as horses must negotiate busystreets clogged with cars, bikes and pedestrians and are ofteninvolved in deadly accidents. Over the years, many horses andeven people have been seriously injured and killed, PETA said.
