42 Pigs Rescued In Daring Night Chase

 Beginning with this post, we are going to chronicle anOTHERside of Saligao...

 In January this year, the Times of India took Saligao by surprise with this alarming report.  It betrayed the fact that the demand for pork far outweighs the supply from local piggeries.

So, pigs from the neighbouring states grunt their last journey into Saligao in conditions you would not even raise a pig in!  Stinking and forced to wallow in their own urine and excreta, these condemned animals are packed worse than sardines leaving some of them dead even before their throats are slit at the slaughter house in Saligao.

Read the full report:

42 Pigs Rescued In Daring Night Chase

TNN Jan 12, 2013, 03.21AM IST

MAPUSA: About 42 pigs being illegally transported to Goa from Belgaum in a pickup were rescued near Mapusa by two animal welfare activists in a daring mission at 1.30am on Thursday.

Having received a tip-off, John Fernandes and Mahadev Mestri of the Animal Rescue Squad set off on a motorbike for the 'Goa-Mumbai' NH 17, looking for a Karnataka-registered vehicle.

Near Hotel Green Park they saw the pickup heading towards Panaji and heard the grunting of pigs. Following the vehicle, they got it to stop by stopping their own motorbike right in front of it.

"We asked the driver for the permit to transport the pigs. He didn't have one and instead offered us a bribe," claimed Fernandes.

The duo called the police who arrested the driver and the two helpers-all Karnataka natives-and rescued the pigs. Sources said the pigs were headed to a slaughterhouse in Saligao.

Describing the "horrid" conditions under which the pigs were being transported, Fernandes said, "The pickup was divided into two sections and the upper section alone had 25 pigs. The condition was unhygienic and so crammed that one pig had died during the journey."

He stressed that the law does not permit the carrying of so many pigs in such constrained conditions.

Police sources corroborated this, saying the transportation was in violation of provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"The law requires that those transporting pigs should have a licence to do so. It is also illegal to transport pigs in a vehicle that has not been properly constructed to carry them," an animal activist later explained.

The arrested trio are under police custody.

(ends)