MYSURU: Whacks audible 200-300 metres away, bleeding nose due to rough handling, yanking tails, biting tails, bloody wounds, bulls stuck under carts after collapsing... This is how a few bulls are treated in bullock cart races which are common across South Karnataka during the harvest (suggi) season, according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( PeTA ).Photographic evidence and eyewitness reports documented by the organisation revealed rampant cruelty to bulls during races investigated recently in Mysuru district. The organisation, which documented a race held on January 12 and 13 near Bannur town on the Mysuru-Bannur highway alleged that bulls are treated cruelly. Meanwhile, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha general secretary Nagendra Badagalapura observed that generally farmers who take part in these races treat bulls like their family members and if anyone treats animals cruelly, it is wrong.PeTA activists alleged that in this race, scared bullocks were pushed and pulled by nose ropes and their noses bled, and they were mercilessly struck with wooden sticks. The animals were also beaten with hands at the starting point and during the race, and their tails were bitten, pulled, and twisted to force them to run faster."Whipping marks were visible on bulls' backs, and some animals had injuries from whipping and from brushes with carts. Many exhausted bullocks dropped to the ground at the starting point but were pulled and pushed up by handlers who yanked and bit their tails to force them to race. Some bullock pairs also crashed to the ground and into barricades during the races. Many bullocks who finished the races were frothing at the mouth, salivating heavily, and displaying increased respiratory rates," claimed PeTA activists.PeTA India chief advocacy officer Prakash Sasha alleged that despite a clear 2014 Supreme Court ruling that bulls, including buffalos, aren't anatomically suited to racing and that these events are inherently cruel, racers in the state are forcing them to run at high speeds on tar roads."PeTA India is calling on authorities to ban all cruel events involving bulls, including bullock cart races, and kambala," he urged.Badagalapura said, "Cattle are well looked after in the house. But if anyone is cruel to them, it’s really sad. We won’t support it.”

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