Hindus Ordered To Stop Torturing Foxes

A court has banned the ritual torture and slaughter of rare red foxes during a Hindu festival in southern India.

The High Court in Bangalore, capital of the southern state of Karnataka, on Thursday ordered state wildlife wardens to prevent hundreds of Hindu devotees from hunting, torturing and killing foxes during the festival on Jan. 16.

Worshipers in Kadabal and Dhanaganhalli, villages near Bangalore, sew the foxes’ mouths shut, pierce their left ears with golden earrings and push them in a chariot to the temple of a local god during the festivities.

The devotees of Kavethi Ranganatha, who believe their deity can be appeased only by the annual sacrifice of foxes during the full moon in January, then tie lighted firecrackers to the animals’ tails and leave them to die.