WELFARE OF ANIMALS IN INDA
Dr. Smruti Smita Mohapatra
Ph.D. Final year
Department of Veterinary Physiology,
Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Sciences,
WBUAFS, Kolkata
Animal welfare means how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives. An animal is in a good state of welfare if it is healthy, comfortable, well-nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour and not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling, and humane slaughter. Animal welfare refers to the state of the animal; the treatment that an animal receives is covered by other terms such as animal care, animal husbandry, and humane treatment. Protecting an animal's welfare means providing for its physical and mental needs, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.
The animal welfare principles include:
Responsible use of animals for human purposes, such as companionship, food, fibre, recreation, work, education, exhibition, and research conducted for the benefit of both humans and animals and decisions regarding animal care, use, and welfare shall be made by balancing scientific knowledge and professional judgment with consideration of ethical and societal values. Animals must be provided water, food, proper handling, health care, and an environment appropriate to their care and use, with thoughtful consideration for their species-typical biology and behaviour. Animals should be cared for in ways that minimize fear, pain, stress, and suffering. Procedures related to animal housing, management, care, and use should be continuously evaluated, and when indicated, refined or replaced. Conservation and management of animal populations should be humane, socially responsible, and scientifically prudent. Animals shall be treated with respect and dignity throughout their lives and, when necessary, provided a humane death. Ensuring animal welfare is a human responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment.
The different aspects of animal welfare are as follows.
- Performing animals are protected under Performing animal (registration) rules, 2001, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Central zoo authority guidelines, Cinematography Act, 1952, mandatory registration with Animal Welfare Board of India and complete prohibition on performance of lion, tigers, bears, panthers, monkeys and bulls. This is applicable to all kind of performance including circuses, madaris, kalanders in films (movies and advertisements). All the wild animals under act are government property. Permission in writing of the CWW to keep such animals – no guidelines to CWW to issue license. Proof that animal was bred in captivity to be given by the licensee loophole. Snake charmers and parakeet fortune tellers are covered by the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
E.g. Animal racing – Section 11(1)(a), PCA, 1960
Bull-fighting – Section11(1)(n), PCA Act, 1960
Cockfights – Section11(1)(m)(ii) & (n) PCA Act, 1960
Partridge fights – Section11(m)(ii)(n), PCA Act, 1960 is an offence under the Wildlife Protection Act,1972 as a scheduled bird.
Animals in films
• PETA India v/s CBFC and others mandates CBFC to seek certificate from AWBI before giving a censor certificate.
• Animal Welfare Board of India to set up inspection mechanism - Draught and pack animals are protected under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 – Section 11(1)(a) & (b). Section 38 – “Prevention of cruelty of draught and pack animals rules, 1965” prescribes maximum load.
- Transporting of animals are protected under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1960- sections11(a), (d), (e) & (h), transport of animal rules, 1978 and PCA (transport of animals on foot) rules, 2001.
- Slaughter including treatment of animals before and during slaughter are covered under PCA (slaughterhouse) rules, 2001 and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Animal slaughter is prohibited in any corporation or municipal area without license.
- Companion animals and strays are protected under Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rule 2001.
- Wild animals and the WPA
Species face extinction because of demands from the wildlife trade. Wild plants provide genetic variation for crops-natural source for many medicines-threatened by the trade. Illegal wildlife trade-part of the crime syndicate must be prevented. Live animals are only form a small part of the trade. The trade occurs at all levels. Wildlife crimes are second to narcotics and the second largest illegal occupation in the world. Schedules I, II, III & IV list different protected species, the killing or trade of which is prohibited. Schedule VI lists protected plants. A schedule I offence can earn a repeat offender 6 years in prison and a fine of Rs. 25,000. CITES regulates international trade in endangered species and export-import of endangered species between member countries – species. Authority is the Directorate of CITES and officers of the WPA. - Fishing and Zoos
Experimentation on animals
Chapter IV – section 15 – experimentation on animals confers power on the colleges to appoint CPCSEA and set up to regulate experimentation general objectives laid down. CPCSEA is not advisory committee but a statutory committee. Hence rules framed by this committee are binding breach – offence under the PCA Act, 1960. Section 17 calls for avoiding experiments where ever possible. Committee for the Purpose of Control And Supervision of Experiments on Animals is a statutory body which has the right to prohibit and regulate dissection. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) banned dissection in 2011. UGC banned dissection in 2014.
Thus the different aspects of animal welfare are covered under the following animal laws in India:
The Constitution of India, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 the Police Acts and the Municipal Corporation Acts. Chapter 7.1.2 of the guidelines of OIE, recognizes five internationally recognized freedoms for animals. They are the terrestrial code of the animals which encompasses both the mental and physical well-being of animals. Article 21 & 51 (g), Section 3 & 11 of PCA Act, 1960 and the Five freedoms of animals form the ‘Golden Triangle’. Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in its “Legislative and Regulatory Options for Animal Welfare” indicated that these five freedoms found their place in Farm Welfare Council 2009 U.K. and is also called Brambell’s Five Freedoms. These five freedoms are considered to be the fundamental principles of animal welfare. These freedoms come under Sections 3 and 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. These animal rights are guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution of India. They are as follows:
i) freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition;
ii) freedom from fear and distress;
iii) freedom from physical and thermal discomfort;
iv) freedom from pain, injury and disease; and
v) freedom to express normal behaviour
India established the first Animal Law Centre at NALSAR, Hyderabad in 2017. Humane Society International in collaboration with Animal Law Centre launched India’s first post graduate diploma course on animal protection laws in 2019 ensuring animal rights. The increasingly systemic and brutal abuses of animals in modern society by the factory farms and in biomedical-research laboratories has spawned thousands of animal rights groups. Some consists of a mere handful of people interested in local, and more traditional, animal-protection issues, such as animal shelters that care for stray dogs and cats. Others are large national and international organizations, such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Humane Society International, which in the early 21st century had millions of members and a multimillion-dollar annual budget. In all their manifestations, animal rights groups have begun to inundate legislatures with demands for regulation and reform. Therefore there should be law for animal rights parallel to human rights taking care of the animal welfare in India. In words of James Herriot,
“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”
