A growing number of national celebrities have added their names to a petition calling on the Controller of Rationing to ban the use of bullocks to pull heavy oil carts through the streets of Mumbai. PETA's petition has garnered support from Akshaye Khanna, Rahul Khanna, Raveena Tandon, Eesha Koppikar, Arjun Rampal, Rahul Dev, Avanti Birla, Sandiip Sikcand and others. Following PETA's complaints, the oil companies issued letters to the Controller of Rationing through the Maharashtra State Level Coordinator Shri RK Panda of Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Ltd, asking for bullock-pulled oil carts to be discontinued. And now, Justice CS Dharmadhikari (Retired Judge of the Bombay High Court and the Chair of the Committee to Monitor Animal Welfare Laws in Maharashtra) has asked the Controller what action he plans to take.

The following are just some of the abuses which PETA's investigation documented:

• The bullocks are stationed on the main street opposite the Sewree Railway Station. They stand for hours without shelter, and they are exposed to burning sun and all other weather extremes. They are not provided with adequate food or water.
• Injured and sick bullocks do not receive veterinary care even though they are forced to continue pulling heavy kerosene tankers.
• The bullocks are kept in miserable, unhygienic conditions. They are tethered amid heaps of dung, urine and muck.
• The bullocks – and the filth they are forced to live in – encroach on an area of the street which is supposed to be used by the public.