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PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

QUESTION BANK

Q.1. What is “Cruelty to Animals? Expound the constitution and functions of the Animal Welfare Board of India under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.    1960

Q.2. State the constitution and functions of the Animal Welfare Board of India under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960

Q.3. Write a brief note on ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Q.4. What is meant by ‘cruelty to animals generally’? How is it prevented?

SHORT NOTES

1. Cruelty to animals.

SYNOPSIS

I. Object of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act-

II. Cruelty to Animals Generally (Section 11)

A. Under Section 11(1), an offense is committed if any person:

• B. Penalties under Section 11-

III. Constitution of the Animal Welfare Board of India (Sections 4 & 5)-    

IV. Functions of the Board (Section 9)

V. Experimentation on Animals (Sections 14–20)-    

1. Permissibility (Section 14):

2. The CPCSEA (Section 15):

3. Powers and Enforcement (Section 19 & 20):

VI. Performing Animals (Sections 21–27)    

1. Mandatory Registration (Section 22 & 23):

2. Government Prohibitions:

3. Judicial Intervention (Section 25):

4. Penalties:

VII. Modern Updates and Legal Evolution-    

• 1. The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules    

• 2. Landmark Judicial Precedents    

• 3. Proposed Legislative Amendments

I. Object of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act-

    Animals have always occupied a deeply significant position in human civilization. Across various global religions, profound importance is accorded to non-human sentient beings. Within Hindu scriptures, every creature is viewed as a manifestation of the divine, possessing an atman (soul/energy) identical in spiritual essence to that of a human being. Consequently, Indian cultural ethos inherently advocates for the nurturing of animals with compassion, famously epitomized by the sacred status granted to the cow.

    With this compassionate cultural mindset and the constitutional mandate enshrined in Article 51A(g) (which imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen to have compassion for living creatures), the Parliament of India enacted The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (henceforth referred to as 'the Act'). The primary objective of the Act is to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals and to amend the laws relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Statutory Duty of Care (Section 3): The Act imposes a statutory duty on every person who has the care or charge of any animal (whether captive or domestic) to take all reasonable measures to ensure the well-being of such animal and to prevent the infliction upon it of unnecessary pain or suffering.

II. Cruelty to Animals Generally (Section 11)

    Section 11 comprehensively defines the acts and omissions that constitute cruelty to animals.

A. Under Section 11(1), an offense is committed if any person:

1. Beats, kicks, overrides, overdrives, overloads, tortures, or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering, or, being the owner, permits any animal to be so treated;

2. Employs in any work or labor any animal which, by reason of age, disease, infirmity, wound, sore, or any other cause, is unfit to be so employed, or, being the owner, permits such an unfit animal to be employed;

3. Willfully and unreasonably administers any injurious drug or substance to an animal, or willfully and unreasonably causes or attempts to cause any such substance to be taken by an animal;

4. Conveys or carries any animal, whether in or upon a vehicle or not, in such a manner or position as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering;

5. Keeps or confines any animal in any cage or receptacle which does not measure sufficiently in height, length, and breadth to permit the animal a reasonable opportunity for movement;

6. Keeps an animal tethered or chained for an unreasonable time upon an unreasonably short or unreasonably heavy chain or cord;

7. Being the owner, neglects to exercise or cause to be exercised reasonably any dog habitually chained up or kept in close confinement;

8. Being the owner, fails to provide such animal with sufficient food, drink, or shelter;

9. Without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances where it is likely to suffer pain by reason of starvation or thirst;

10. Willfully permits any animal, of which he is the owner, to go at large in any street while the animal is affected with a contagious or infectious disease, or, without reasonable cause, permits any diseased or disabled animal to die in any public street;

11. Offers for sale or, without reasonable cause, has in his possession any animal suffering pain by reason of mutilation, starvation, thirst, overcrowding, or other ill-treatment;

12. Mutilates any animal or kills any animal (including stray dogs) by using the method of strychnine injections in the heart or any other unnecessarily cruel manner;

13. Solely with a view to providing entertainment:

    i. Confines or causes to be confined any animal (including the tethering of an animal as bait in a tiger or other sanctuary) to make it an object of prey for another animal; or

    ii. Incites any animal to fight or bait any other animal;

14. Organizes, keeps, uses, or manages any place for animal fighting or for the purpose of baiting any animal, or permits or offers any place to be so used, or receives money for admission to such places;

15. Promotes or takes part in any shooting match or competition wherein animals are released from captivity for the purpose of being shot.

• B. Penalties under Section 11-

1. First Offense: Punishable with a fine which shall not be less than ten rupees but which may extend to fifty rupees.

2. Subsequent Offense (within 3 years of the previous offense): Punishable with a fine which shall not be less than twenty-five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.

• 3. Statutory Exceptions

    Nothing in Section 11 applies to:

i. The dehorning of cattle, or the castration, branding, or nose-roping of any animal in the prescribed manner.

ii. The destruction of stray dogs in lethal chambers or by such other methods as may be prescribed (governed by the Animal Birth Control Rules).

iii. The extermination or destruction of any animal under the authority of any law for the time being in force.

iv. Any matter dealt with in Chapter IV (Experimentation on Animals).

v. Any act done in the course of the destruction or the preparation for the destruction of any animal as food for mankind, unless such destruction or preparation is accompanied by the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering.

III. Constitution of the Animal Welfare Board of India (Sections 4 & 5)-

    For the promotion of animal welfare and for the purpose of protecting animals from being subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering, the Central Government established the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) under Section 4.

Under Section 5, the Board is a corporate body consisting of the following members:

i. The Inspector-General of Forests, Government of India (ex officio).

ii. The Animal Husbandry Commissioner to the Government of India (ex officio).

iii. Two persons representing the Central Government Ministries dealing with Home Affairs and Education.

iv. One person to represent the Indian Board for Wildlife, appointed by the Central Government.

v. Three persons actively engaged in animal welfare work and well-known humanitarians, nominated by the Central Government.

vi. One representative of veterinary practitioners, elected in the prescribed manner.

vii. Two persons representing practitioners of modern and indigenous systems of medicine.

viii. One person to represent each of two municipal corporations, selected by the Central Government.

ix. One person to represent each of three organizations actively interested in animal welfare.

x. One person to represent each of three societies dealing with the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCAs).

xi. Three members of Parliament nominated by the Central Government.

xii. Six members of Parliament: four elected by the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and two by the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).

xiii. The Central Government nominates one of the members of the Board to be its Chairperson. The Board is reconstituted every three years.

IV. Functions of the Board (Section 9)

    The statutory functions of the AWBI include:

1. Law Reform: Keeping the law in force in India for the prevention of cruelty to animals under constant study and advising the Government on necessary amendments.

2. Rule Formulation: Advising the Central Government on the making of rules under the Act to prevent unnecessary pain or suffering to animals generally, particularly during transport, captivity, or use as performing animals.

3. Vehicle Design: Advising local authorities and individuals on improvements in the design of vehicles to lessen the burden on draught animals.

4. Animal Amelioration: Taking steps for the welfare of animals by encouraging the construction of sheds, water troughs, and providing veterinary assistance.

5. Slaughterhouse Regulation: Advising on the design and maintenance of slaughterhouses to eliminate physical and mental suffering in the pre-slaughter stages, ensuring humane slaughter methods.

6. Humane Population Control: Ensuring that unwanted or diseased animals are destroyed by local authorities humanely, either instantaneously or after being rendered insensible to pain.

7. Shelter Infrastructure: Granting financial assistance for the establishment and upkeep of Panjrapoles (animal infirmaries), rescue homes, sanctuaries, and shelters for old or abandoned animals.

8. Coordination: Cooperating with and coordinating the work of local animal protection associations and bodies.

9. Public Education: Imparting public education regarding the humane treatment of animals, raising awareness, and building public opinion against cruelty using lectures, books, posters, cinematographic exhibitions, and digital media.

V. Experimentation on Animals (Sections 14–20)-

    To achieve advancements in medical science, diagnostics, and therapeutics for human beings, animals, and plants, it is sometimes necessary to perform experiments on living animals. Recognizing the potential for cruelty, Chapter IV of the Act strictly regulates this process.

1. Permissibility (Section 14): Experimentation (including surgical operations) is lawful only if it is performed for the advancement of new discovery of physiological knowledge, or knowledge that will be useful for saving or prolonging life, alleviating suffering, or combating disease.

2. The CPCSEA (Section 15): The Central Government constitutes a specialized committee: the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA). The prime duty of this Committee is to take all measures to ensure that animals are not subjected to avoidable pain or suffering before, during, or after experiments.

3. Powers and Enforcement (Section 19 & 20): The Committee is empowered to inspect laboratories and prohibit experiments on animals if an institution fails to comply with its directives. Under Section 20, contravention of any order passed by the Committee is punishable with a fine.

VI. Performing Animals (Sections 21–27)

    "Performing animals" refers to animals trained to exhibit skills or perform tasks in circuses, street acts, film/television productions, and commercial amusements. Chapter V of the Act protects these animals from abusive training regimens and exploitation.

1. Mandatory Registration (Section 22 & 23): No person is permitted to exhibit or train any performing animal unless they are officially registered with the prescribed authority (AWBI).

2. Government Prohibitions: The Central Government reserves the power to prohibit the exhibition or training of specific categories of animals via notification in the Official Gazette.

Note: Under this provision, animals such as bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers, lions, and dolphins have been strictly banned from being used as performing animals.

3. Judicial Intervention (Section 25): A Magistrate can order the restriction or absolute prohibition of the training or exhibition of a performing animal if a complaint of cruelty is proven by a police officer or an authorized officer.

4. Penalties: Any person who trains or exhibits an animal without registration, or uses a prohibited animal, is liable to be punished with a fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.

VII. Modern Updates and Legal Evolution-

    To get recent updates, it is necessary to highlight key judicial developments and regulatory transformations that have altered the implementation of this Act:

• 1. The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules

    Re-notified with strict updates, the ABC Rules mandate that stray dogs cannot be relocated or killed arbitrarily. Instead, local municipalities must adopt the ABC methodology (Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release) to humanely manage stray dog populations, rendering the older provisions regarding lethal chambers virtually obsolete in practice.

• 2. Landmark Judicial Precedents

    Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja (2014): The Supreme Court of India elevated animal rights to the level of constitutional protection, declaring that animals possess the "Right to Life" under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which includes the right to live with dignity and free from unnecessary pain.

    The Jallikattu Controversy (2023): The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld state amendments permitting cultural events like Jallikattu and Kambala, provided they strictly adhere to the updated rules preventing physical cruelty, striking a complex balance between cultural tradition and animal welfare framework under the 1960 Act.

• 3. Proposed Legislative Amendments

    Because the original fines specified in Section 11 (ranging from ₹10 to ₹100) have lost their deterrent value over the decades, the Draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill was introduced by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The proposed bill aims to comprehensively overhaul the penalty structure by introducing:

Fines scaling up to ₹75,000 or more for severe abuse.

Rigorous imprisonment terms for gruesome cruelty (such as maiming or killing an animal).

    The formal recognition of "Five Freedoms" for animals: freedom from hunger/thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain/injury, freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom from fear/distress.

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