Actress Jaya Ahsan has recently approached the High Court to stop the horse meat trade after filing a writ petition to stop the torture of elephants. In response to her petition, the High Court has issued a rule asking whether horse meat can be consumed and why no effective action has been taken in this regard.
At the same time, a complete guideline has been ordered to be prepared within the next 90 days to control the commercial use of horse meat and related issues. The High Court gave this order after hearing Jaya Ahsan’s writ petition on June 7 (Sunday).
Jaya Ahsan filed the writ petition on May 11. The writ petition sought the intervention of the High Court on the charges of fraudulently marketing sick animals as human food. The petition states that the petitioners have approached the court after effective legal action was not taken despite previous requests.
The petition seeks directions for the resolution of previous complaints sent to the ministry, initiation of appropriate legal proceedings, and a thorough and time-bound investigation into the illegal horse meat trade uncovered in Gazipur. It also seeks directions for submitting the investigation report to the High Court.
The petitioners have also requested that national guidelines and action plans be formulated within 60 days to stop such activities, auctions of confiscated and sick horses be immediately stopped, and appropriate facilities or sanctuaries—Bangladesh Animal Welfare Foundation—be established for the care and rehabilitation of rescued animals.
The petitioners say that without immediate judicial intervention, these illegal activities may pose a threat to public health and cruelty to animals may continue.
Earlier, actress Jaya Ahsan and the People for Animal Welfare Foundation (PAW), an organization working on animal rights, had filed a writ in the High Court on February 18, 2024, to stop the use of elephants in captive elephant circuses, elephant rides, wedding decorations, commercial and political rallies, and entertainment, as well as the torture and training of elephants for this use.
