Mumbai: Following an anonymous complaint, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staffers rushed to a Bandra colony and confiscated six performing bears, with the support of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) officers and People For Animal (PFA) members.

Under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972, it is illegal to capture and trade bears in India. However this law is blatantly ignored and bears can be still seen in the streets. According to the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), approximately 1,000 sloth bears are forced to "dance" for money in India by madaris as a form of begging. Barely a year old, bear cubs have a rope forced through their nose and most of their teeth taken out without any anaesthetic. This is an extremely painful process where the bear is held down by a group of men while an iron needle, previously heated in a coal fire, is inserted into the squealing bear cub. No anaesthetic is used for this and infections are common.

"All the bears were found with a rope forced through their nose and were being made to perform what, to them, could only be stressful and confusing tricks for the public," says Bijal Vachharajani, special projects co-ordinator, PETA India. "The bears were made to walk in the heat, remain standing on their hind legs, dance, salute passers-by and 'drop dead' at the madaris' command and obviously in fear of punishment received during their training."

Bears are trained to dance through a regime of pain and starvation, and most rarely survive to more than eight years, a third of their life expectancy.

All six bears are now at Borivli National Park, Mumbai.