After Supreme Court stayed the central government's notification of allowing bull-taming Jallikattu festival in Tamil Nadu, animal rights groups have welcomed the directive. The petitioners were Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organization (FIAPO), Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA), and People for Animals (PFA).

Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, trustee of People For Animals, spoke to ScoopWhoop and here are their arguments:

"The very idea of bull racing in itself is cruel and illogical. Bulls are not anatomically suited to run the way they are required to in the sport. They only run when they are scared."
"The bulls are deliberately disoriented by giving them substances like alcohol. They are subjected to worst forms of brutal abuses. Their tails get twisted and bitten, get stabbed and jabbed by sickles, spears, knives or sticks and are punched, jumped on and dragged to the ground. During races, they are sometimes hit with nail-studded sticks and pushed beyond the point of exhaustion."
"The sport is extremely dangerous in nature. Hundreds of human participants get injured each year. Between 2010 and 2014, approximately 1,100 injuries were reported and 17 people, including a child, died.
"The Article 51-A (g) of the Indian Constitution makes it the mandate of every Indian citizen 'to have compassion for living creatures'.”.

Following work by AWBI, PETA, others in SC, jallikattu/bull races cannot currently be held. https://t.co/qtGws5MP0t pic.twitter.com/l1fviKCroY

— PETA India (@PetaIndia) January 12, 2016

"The Supreme Court's stay, which comes as a birthday gift for PETA on our 16th anniversary, is a partial victory for sensitive bulls who will be spared cruelties such as being deliberately disoriented by being given substances like alcohol and having their tails painfully broken joint by joint and bitten for Jallikattu or races. The Court's move will also spare countless people from being hurt or killed at such events this year. PETA will continue its fight to protect bulls from abuse until the Supreme Court confirms once again that spectacles such as Jallikatu and bull races have no place in civilised society," said PETA India Chief Executive Officer Poorva Joshipura.