Working in collaboration, the Gujarat Forest Department along with the Wildlife SOS and Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raided several places in Vadodara and rescued many wild animals kept illegally as pets.

The team was able to rescue 18 parakeets and one baby Rhesus macaque, in a mass seizure operation that spread across the city including Gorwa, Kishanwadi, Ajwa Road and Lalbaug areas.

Among the birds rescued were Alexandrine, Rose-ringed and Plum-headed parakeets.

The operation was planned after several weeks of intel gathering by the Wildlife SOS-GSPCA Rapid Response Unit which alerted the Forest Department about these pets kept illegally in households.

The birds were kept in cages while the monkey was found tied to a rope on the balcony of a house. While the animals are currently under the custody of the Forest Department, cases have been registered against the offenders under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Talking about these raids, Raj Bhavsar, the President of GSPCA said: “Parakeets are social animals and keeping them in a caged environment can negatively affect their physical and psychological health. While it is important to educate the consumers about the ills of this practice, it is equally essential to uproot the problem at the source and halt the poaching of wild animals which supports the illegal pet trade industry.”

These animals are kept in small spaces and deprived of basic nutrition and care and at least 75 per cent of these animals die within the first year of becoming a pet, with a large number succumbing to suffocation, disease, starvation and dehydration during transit.