INDIA: A former colonial restraining order has been imposed on pigs, forbidding the assembly of four or more of the animals, in a town adjoining the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Section 144 of India's Criminal Procedure Code was introduced last month to prohibit the movement of around 8,000 pigs in an "uncontrolled manner" in Gurgaon district, 20 miles from New Delhi.
If "apprehended" the pigs are to be "disposed off in such a manner that they do not manage to return", the order states.
Introduced by the colonial administration in the early 1900s to curb rioting and anti-British demonstrations, Section 144 is normally imposed to enforce law and order in disturbed and "sensitive" areas. It also forbids more than four people gathering in troubled areas.
"I could have taken action under the municipal act, which allows seizure of the stray animals, but I thought I would give their owners a chance to take care of their animals," Gurgaon district magistrate Mr Anurag Rastogi said.
His order decrees that the district's pigs be kept in "confinement" on their owners premises at all times.
Officials said the order has already led to protests, with pig owners complaining that it was too strict. "They plead that as the pigs are not allowed to roam freely and feed themselves, pork cannot be sold cheaply," Mr Rastogi said.
Meanwhile, large herds of cattle are disrupting traffic on main roads across the city as irate drivers try and dodge the offending animals in Delhi's unruly and chaotic traffic.
The police say they are unable to clear them, accusing the municipal authorities of being unwilling to help.
"Stray cows from around 3,000 unauthorised dairies daily cause road accidents in Delhi, already the highest in the world," a traffic officer said. Delhi has five road fatalities per day.
