Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Stop cruelty to animals” (May 9). The Supreme Court has done well to ban bull running in the century-old tradition of ‘Jallikattu’ in Tamil Nadu. In 2010, the apex court had put in place certain regulations on the so-called sport. However, it was evident that the court’s restrictions were not followed in letter and in spirit by those involved in Jallikattu, which naturally invoked a stringent ban by the top court of the country.
It is clear that the Supreme Court had in mind the safety of human beings too because more than 200 human deaths has been reported over the last 10 years by injuries inflicted by the bulls. Though there were no reported instances of the deaths of the bulls, the very fact that the animals were particularly identified for Jallikattu, were tamed and trained, subjected to all types of physical and mental torture to make them ‘fit for the sport’, were good enough reasons for the apex court to put an end to the vexed practice.
The biggest bane of Jallikattu was that it was not supervised properly by the police which often resulted in chaos. Though traditions have their own place in our society, they cannot supersede decency and fair treatment to the animals as well as the human beings.