Cockatoos return to veterinary shelter from Great Bombay Circus after Madras High Court intervention

Later, it was reportedly found that their wings had been lacerated in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

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Police book cases

The police have now booked the Great Bombay Circus under Section 429 (maiming or rendering an animal useless) of the IPC and sections 11(1)(a) (torturing an animal to unnecessary pain) and 26(a) (exhibits or trains any animal) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. 

The circus had been clipping the remiges — or wing feathers — to prevent them from flying and used them to perform tricks that were not registered with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), the complaint said. 

Under the FIR filed on 17 July, a government veterinarian inspected the exotic birds. Based on the report, the police seized two cockatoos and sent them to Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS), a shelter facility accredited with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), at Kurnool in the Nilgiris. 

However, the cockatoos did not remain in the WVS for long.

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Back to circus — and WVS

The circus had no registration certificate from the AWBI for using the birds. After the birds were sent to the WVS, a judicial magistrate in Coimbatore ruled in favour of the circus company on 2 August. The birds were then returned to the circus. 

The PFCI challenged the magistrate court’s order in the High Court of Madras. The high court issued an order against the circus.

Meanwhile, the circus had left Coimbatore and pitched its tent at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Following the high court order, the birds were once again brought back to the WVS at Kurnool.

Cockatoos are exotic birds native to Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. They are protected under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000 and Schedule 1 of the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES). They have a lifespan of 20 to 40 years in the wild.

“Several inspections by the AWBI as well as other organisations, including PETA India, have found animals are ill-treated in circuses. They are continuously chained or confined to small cages; deprived of veterinary care and adequate food, water, and everything natural and important to them,” Prasanna said.

“Through physical abuse with weapons, they are forced to perform confusing, uncomfortable, and even painful tricks,” he told South First. 

Great Bombay’s denial

KP Sundaradas, who was manning the enquiry counter of the circus, said the birds were not ill-treated.

“We did not clip their wings. We have the AWBI approval from 2008. We did not get it renewed after the case was filed,” he told South First.

Sundaradas added that the circus was not using the birds at Tirupati.

Incidentally, a similar case was filed against the Great Bombay Circus, India’s oldest, in Kerala’s Thrissur district in May, PETA reported.