The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Animal lovers drive out snake charmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Animal lovers drive out snake charmers

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, NOV. 16. Vigorous campaign by animal rights activists for past several years has finally paid off. This was evident on "Nagula Chavathi', observed on Tuesday.

The snake charmers, mainly belonging to the Yerukala tribe from Kasimkota and nearby areas, and the Yanadi tribe from East Godavari district, used to throng the city with cobra and other snakes and allow people to forcibly pour milk by rubbing vermilion on forehead. In some instances, the mouth of the snakes are also stitched.

Campaign pays off

Exploiting religious sentiments, they used to criss-cross the city allowing devotees to pour milk and offer eggs to snakes, particularly cobras on Nagula Chavithi.

Activists of the Visakha Society for Prevention to Animals (VSPCA) and Green Mercy visited several areas but diod not come across any snake charmer. The VSPCA had handed over 12 persons belonging to a single family last year to the authorities after catching them while they were taking the reptiles to the doorsteps of people.

``During the process of force-feeding, snakes die of dehydration,'' the VSPCA activist, Swathi Buddhiraju, said. According to her, after stiff opposition from several people when they took up the campaign against forced feeding of snakes, they were happy that on Tuesday the devotees had seen reason in the logic that morally and ethically, force-feeding was a sin .

Seizure in rural areas

Activists of Green Mercy, along with the members of Save Snakes Society, went around rural areas and seized 16 cobras and two Indian rock pythons and later released them into the nearby forest. The raids were organised under the supervision of the Green Mercy executive director, K.V. Ramana Murthy.

The seizure was made at Payakaraopeta, Kothuru, Anakapalle and Atchutapuram. In some places, the charmers ran away with the snakes on coming to know about the raids.

Green Mercy activists, as part of their Jana Jagruthi campaign, explained to the people how the snake-charmers not only de-fanged the snakes but also brutally tortured them causing serious injuries to their head, body and tail resulting in the death of several snakes every year.

Meanwhile, people celebrated Nagula Chavithi with enthusiasm by offering milk and eggs at snake pits from early hours of the day. Taking advantage of the rush, some people dug artificial snake-pits to take away eggs. A large number of people were seen searching for snake pits in Shivajipalem, zoo and Andhra University areas, Mudasarlova, Ukkunagaram, Sheilanagar and other areas.

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