THEY CANNOT ASK FOR AN INSPECTION. WE CAN.

My name is Jillian Haslam. I grew up in Kolkata and I am the founder of The Animal Truth Project and Molly's Animal Sanctuary.

I love this city. But what we are witnessing at Galiff Street cannot simply be ignored.

Every week, puppies and other animals are displayed and sold from cages in this open street market.

Our investigators have gone there. We have watched. We have documented. And what we have seen raises serious animal-welfare concerns.

Puppies crowded together in cages.

Animals repeatedly handled and displayed for sale.

Inconsistent access to shade.

Enclosures where drinking water was not visible during our observations.

Animals appearing unwell.

Unknown substances or grooming products being applied to some animals.

Birds confined in severely crowded conditions.

Dead birds found among market stock.

These are not products. They are living beings capable of feeling pain, fear, thirst and distress.

THE SUFFERING DOES NOT END AT THE MARKET
Across our streets, animal rescuers, NGOs, shelters and individual caregivers are already confronting enormous suffering.

Dogs are found hungry, sick, injured and abandoned.

Animal-welfare workers also encounter cases of deliberate cruelty — animals that have been beaten, deliberately injured, mutilated or killed.

And increasingly, rescuers are encountering abandoned pedigree and companion dogs that may once have lived in someone's home but have later been surrendered or left to survive for themselves.

Shelters cannot absorb an unlimited number of animals.

Rescuers cannot keep finding another bed.

Another foster home.

Another veterinary bill.

Another pair of hands.

And yet, while this enormous welfare burden already exists, more puppies continue to be bred, supplied and sold.

We cannot rescue our way out of this forever.

We must also ask:

HOW DO WE PREVENT MORE ANIMALS FROM ENTERING THIS CYCLE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
A puppy bought cheaply or impulsively can become a responsibility lasting 10 to 15 years.

Food. Veterinary treatment. Vaccinations. Training. Exercise. Grooming. Companionship. Time. Money. Love.

When people buy without understanding that responsibility, sometimes the animal ultimately pays the price.

We are not claiming that every abandoned dog came from Galiff Street.

We are asking something more fundamental:

WHY SHOULD VULNERABLE ANIMALS CONTINUE TO BE COMMERCIALLY DISPLAYED AND SOLD IN OPEN STREET MARKETS WHEN OUR STREETS, RESCUERS AND SHELTERS ARE ALREADY STRUGGLING?
WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR
We call upon the West Bengal State Animal Welfare Board, the Animal Resources Development Department, Kolkata Municipal Corporation and other relevant authorities, with the support and oversight of the Animal Welfare Board of India, to take urgent action.

We ask for:

1. Immediate coordinated inspections of Galiff Street and other identified live-animal street and temporary markets in West Bengal.

2. Verification of sellers and animal sources, including applicable registrations, licences and permissions.

3. Verification of animal records, including age, health, vaccination status, veterinary documentation and identification where legally applicable.

4. Proper welfare inspections covering clean drinking water, food, shade, ventilation, sanitation, overcrowding, housing, handling, illness, stress and transport.

5. Prompt lawful enforcement action wherever cruelty, non-compliance or unlawful trading is established.

6. A clear rescue and referral pathway so that animals requiring urgent protection can be removed, treated and placed with appropriate recognised welfare organisations or facilities in accordance with law and available capacity.

7. A state-wide policy ending the commercial display and sale of dogs, cats and other companion animals in open street, weekly and temporary markets.

Where commercial sale of companion animals is lawful, it should take place only through properly registered, traceable and inspectable establishments operating in accordance with applicable animal-welfare and veterinary requirements.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT ATTACKING INDIVIDUALS
This campaign is not against a community, trader or individual person.

It is about changing a system.

It is about asking authorities to inspect.

To enforce.

To protect.

And to prevent suffering before another animal needs rescuing.

A permit to trade should never become a permit to suffer.

THERE IS ANOTHER WAY
Through Molly's Animal Sanctuary, we are developing an I Want to Adopt Register to encourage people considering bringing a dog into their family to consider responsible adoption before buying.

We are also developing a surrender pathway so that people who can no longer care for their animals have somewhere to ask for help before abandoning them.

Because stopping suffering requires more than criticism.

It requires alternatives.

PLEASE STAND WITH THEM
If you believe a puppy deserves clean drinking water and shade...

If you believe a sick animal deserves veterinary care...

If you believe people should know where an animal being sold has come from...

If you believe breeders and sellers should be accountable and traceable...

If you believe animal-welfare laws should actually be enforced...

And if you believe living animals should not be treated simply as commodities in open street markets...

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION.
One signature may seem small.

But hundreds become a message.

Thousands become a public voice.

These animals cannot write to the Government.

They cannot ask an inspector to come.

They cannot demand that somebody enforce the law.

And they cannot sign this petition.

BUT YOU CAN.
Please sign.

Please share.

And please ask one other person to do the same.

THEY CANNOT SIGN IT. YOU CAN.
Jillian Haslam
Founder, The Animal Truth Project
Founder, Molly's Animal Sanctuary