New Delhi, April 23 :    New Delhi, April 23:  Risking the displeasure of the Sangh parivar, animal-lover and minister Maneka Gandhi has decided to wield the stick this time against the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. She wants the board to ban the use of ponies or mules for ferrying pilgrims to the shrine. In a letter to the board, the minister of state for statistics and programme implementation has pulled up member Ashwini Kumar Chopra for 'extensively' using the animals - often called beasts of burden - for ferrying pilgrims from Katra to the Vaishno Devi shrine and back. Maneka's ministry includes the department of animal welfare, a service that has always been her 'first love'. 'The one-way distance for this journey is about 15 km and the animals are being forced to complete the journey in the shortest possible time so as to ferry more and more pilgrims. In many cases, weak and sick animals are forced to carry very hefty pilgrims,' wrote Maneka. Pointing out that most of the animals are 'not fit for transportation on foot', Maneka said: 'They are being used for hours in excess of the permissible rules and in adverse weather. They are not given feed or water at the stipulated levels.' After listing the five rules outlined in the gazette notification for preventing cruelty to animals, the minister tersely said: 'None of these rules are being followed by the persons using ponies/mules at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Therefore, the use of ponies/mules should be discontinued with immediate effect and palkies/dolies may be utilised for carrying pilgrims to the site.' The guidelines in the gazette say every animal to be transported on foot should be 'healthy' and in 'good condition'. Ponies and mules are allowed to cover a maximum of 6 km per hour and 45 km per day. Every three hours, the animal is to be rested or given feed. Further, the animal has the right to a rest of 20 minutes after a drink and a break of one hour after being given a feed. The maximum temperature range during which animals can be used for transportation on foot is 12ºC to 30ºC. Ever since she was given charge of animal welfare, Maneka has been shooting off letters to a wide range of defaulters for not following the rules. Recently, she ordered the Bombay Turf Club to use shock-absorbing whips on racing horses. The whip, she added, cannot be used more than three times. The turf club filed a petition against Maneka's order in the Bombay Civil Court, but it fell through. 'Many jockeys have been punished since then - the punishments range from fines to barring an entire family from participating in the race,' said an official in the ministry. Maneka has also laid down strictures for developing anti-venom vaccines. Usually, horses are injected small doses of the poison for over almost a year and then allowed to develop anti-bodies. The committee supervising experiments on animals had the found Pune-based Hoffkine Bio-pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd violating these strictures and had moved against it.