Following
a
complaint
from
People
for
the
Ethical
Treatment
of
Animals
(PETA)
India
based
on
whistle-blower
reports
that
a
horse
was
involved
in
a
head-on
collision
and
died
during
the
shooting
of
the
film
Ponniyin
Selvan,
the
government
body
the
Animal
Welfare
Board
of
India
(AWBI)
called
on
the
district
collector
of
Hyderabad
and
the
Telangana
State
Animal
Welfare
Board
to
conduct
an
inquiry
into
the
death.
The
AWBI
is
the
prescribed
authority
under
The
Prevention
of
Cruelty
to
Animals
(PCA)
Act,
1960,
which
authorises
the
use
of
animals
in
films.
The
AWBI
also
asked
officials
to
ensure
that
the
culprits
receive
"exemplary
punishment"
so
that
such
crimes
do
not
happen
in
the
future.
The
Abdullapurmet
police
also
registered
a
First
Information
Report
(FIR)
against
the
management
of
Madras
Talkies
and
the
owner
of
the
horse
under
Section
11
of
the
PCA
Act,
1960,
and
Section
429
of
the
Indian
Penal
Code,
1860.
The
owner
is
reported
to
have
allowed
producers
of
the
film
to
keep
using
horses
who
were
tired
and
dehydrated.
"In
the
age
of
computer-generated
imagery
(CGI),
production
companies
have
no
excuse
for
forcing
exhausted
horses
to
play
at
war
until
one
of
them
drops
dead," says
PETA
India
Chief
Advocacy
Officer
Khushboo
Gupta.
"Compassionate,
forward-thinking
filmmakers
would
never
dream
of
hauling
sensitive
animals
to
a
chaotic
movie
set
and
forcing
them
to
'act'.
PETA
India
is
calling
on
director
Shri
Mani
Ratnam
to
cut
the
cruelty
and
switch
to
modern
and
humane
CGI
and
other
visual-effects
technology."
PETA
India
urges
film,
advertising,
television,
and
digital
content
producers
to
use
CGI,
visual
effects,
and
animatronics
instead
of
forcing
live
animals
to
perform.
Animals
used
in
the
entertainment
industry
are
typically
separated
from
their
mothers
as
infants,
beaten
or
starved
during
training,
forced
to
perform
confusing
or
dangerous
tricks,
chained
or
kept
in
intense
confinement
when
not
used,
and
subjected
to
the
chaos
of
film
and
television
studios.
PETA
India
is
also
offering
a
reward
of
Rs
25,000
for
a
video
or
photograph
of
the
incident
in
which
the
horse
died,
which
may
help
lead
to
the
culprits'
arrests.
Such
evidence
should
be
shared
with
PETA
India
at
Info@petaindia.org.
PETA
India
-
whose
motto
reads,
in
part,
that
"animals
are
not
ours
to
use
for
entertainment"
-
opposes
speciesism,
a
human-supremacist
worldview.