Himachal HC bans animal sacrifice in public places of worship

Himachal Pradesh High Court today put a ban on animal sacrifice to "appease deities" and ruled that "no person throughout the state shall sacrifice any animal in any place of public religious worship".
Disposing of a number of petitions seeking ban on the "inhuman practice" of animal sacrifice, a division bench of justices Rajiv Sharma and Sureshwar Thakur directed all deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, sub-divisional officers and station house officers to "comply with these directions punctually and faithfully".
The bench said startling revelations have been made about the manner in which thousands of animals are sacrificed every year in the name of religious worship, and these sacrifices to appease the god or deity in a barbaric manner cause immense pain and suffering to animals which cannot be permitted.

Compassion is basic tenets in all the religions and the practice of animal sacrifice is a social evil and is required to be curbed, the bench said.
"It is in grey area whether the animal sacrifice can be termed as religious practice or not, but faith, ritualistic worship and its continuation must change in modern era," the bench said, adding that the people are required to be sensitised on this issue by the state government.