Bollywood actress Jaqueline Fernandez has dashed off an angry letter to the Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar of Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) urging him to put an end to the century-old tradition of using animals to deliver goods in the city.With this letter, the actor makes her debut as an animal activist and she plans to take this cause up with more force along with the help of NGOs. The actress said that she has already pledged her support to NGOs who are working for the benefit of animals, specially the ones who are mistreated in cities like Mumbai.
Jacqueline said that she decided to write a letter to the Municipal Commissioner when she read of a horse collapsing in Colaba and dying of a massive heart attack after being forced to carry a load beyond its capacity. “That incident broke my heart. I think that we can treat animals with much more dignity and compassion. I decided to support the cause of animals not being treated well,” says the actress.
In the letter to the Commissioner, Jaqueline writes that she won’t be a silent spectator to these kind of torture on animals in the streets of Mumbai.“I have observed so many similar heartbreaking incidents and I can’t be a silent spectator to this abuse anymore,” Jaqueline wrote in the letter as she goes on to discuss an investigation by an NGO which found that “Horses used for carriage rides were kept in filthy, damp stables and left to stand amidst their own faeces and urine”.
Jaqueline urged Subodh Kumar to take immediate action against the offenders (read the owners of the horse-drawn carriages). “Horses simply don’t belong on the streets, and they certainly don’t deserve to be forced to pull carriages beyond the point of exhaustion. I urge you to please take immediate action to stop this cruel form of entertainment,” she further wrote.