Tanvi Gadkari
Immigration Lawyer
The idea of inflicting pain or any sort of physical harm or torture on a mute, innocent life to most of us is a heartbreaking and saddening thought. When we hear of numerous incidents across the country where either a dog is drowned in water by teenagers merely to shoot a Tik Tok video, or where a man has unnatural sex with cows or as the news has reported more recently, a pregnant elephant being fed pineapple stuffed with crackers, the first thought to enter one’s mind would be – How to hold the perpetrators of this incident accountable for their inhuman actions? Despite the fact that our heart goes out to those innocent victims of unspeakable cruelty, despite the pity that wells up inside us and our vehement wish of helping them, we’re almost as helpless as them because of the problems with proper implementation of Laws for the welfare of animals that co-exist in our world.
The Constitution of India protects animals through Article 51A(g), wherein it is the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect wildlife and have compassion for all living creatures. Moreover, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (PCAA) also provides for the establishment of an Animal Welfare Board of India, defines the functions of the board and entails that essentially, it is the duty of every citizen to ensure no voluntary physical harm is done to an animal. However, unfortunately, the problem isn’t solved only by having a law in place that reprimands acts of cruelty against animals. That would be just like saying – “Don’t hurt animals, it’s bad” and relying on people to adhere to it.
Implementation of this law has clearly been a problem since the inception of this Act. In a country with its population almost touching 150 Crores, animals are bound to get overlooked or treated as secondary. Our courts are already overflowing with cases pending for brutalities against humans, so for animals to be met with justice, may seem like a far call. The problem of wrong or no implementation can stem from a lot of reasons like lack of time, lack of resources, or disparity in provisions of the law.Below is a Section of the PCAA.
Section 4: Establishment of Animal Welfare Board of India:
- For the promotion of animal welfare generally and for the purpose of protecting animals from being subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering, in particular, there shall be established by the Central Government, as soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, a Board to be called the (Animal Board of India.)
- The Board shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal withpower, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire, hold and dispose of property and mayby its name sue and be sued.
In addition to this, the Supreme Court of India in an order dated August 06, 2008 – issued the directive to all the state governments to constitute a State Animal Welfare Board within three months. The objective of this order was to ensure the welfare and protection of animals from unnecessary sufferings and proper enforcement of the PCAA in each State. It is clear from these issued directives issued, that steps were taken to bring about the welfare of animals and protect them from brutalities but unfortunately, data suggests that despite more than a decade of issuance of this order, across most States in India, this board is either yet to form; wherever it has been formed, there is no functionality due to lack of staff and budget.
Talking about the singular aspect of setting up Central or State Boards and the apparent failure of their functioning can be identified as a pattern leading to poor implementation of the laws created for the welfare and protection of Animals. It is safe to say, those boards would have acted as powerhouses and a regulator of the laws created around animal protection and helped facilitation of the laws. The PCAA is a very strict and extensive document on animal welfare rules however not only are, those laws that encompass from it, outdated but also rarely implemented. The Act was last amended in 1982 as a consequence of which the fine for violating the Act is mere Rs. 50 that can be extended up to Rs. 100 or imprisonment for three months. That is a very small price to pay and enables them to get away with horrendous acts of cruelty and brutality towards animals.
Moreover, a law that was designed years ago has not evolved, has not been amended cannot possibly be a remedy for the problems of today. To speak specifically of instances such as mentioned earlier, the dog who was drowned for no valid reason, the cow who was raped, and the elephant who was fed a cracker-filled pineapple and various other horrendous activities of us humans, that were unforeseeable at one point are now becoming major issues. There is no voice that victims of this cruelty have, no protests that animals will organize to get justice but on humanitarian and moral grounds, it is our responsibility to ensure that animals, who co-exist with us have a wholesome life.
On paper, having a stringent law in place that punishes the wrong-doers sounds almost like a water-tight solution to the cruelties to our furry friends but a deeper look into the grass-root realities will bring forth a story of poor implementation, improper use of the provisions and continued injustice to the beneficiaries of this Act.
NGOs work tirelessly for the betterment of animals and a joint effort of such NGOs along with the state and centre governments can significantly help improve the state of our stray animals. Legitimate and safe shelters, veterinarian’s services, safety from poachers, keeping them away from scientific experiments, and every basic right that a living organism should have can only be ensured when the laws in place are regulated the way they were meant to. No one should have the liberty that they can hurt, traumatize, or violate an animal in any manner and not have to face the consequences of it. Every person should be held accountable for the damage they do to another life.
