Animal Rights and Cruelty to Animals Act
Animals cannot speak does not mean that they do not feel pain. Torture on animals should be stopped. We humans will have to live within our limits and allow every living creature to live with equal rights. We have no right to use them ruthlessly for our convenience. We have no right to imprison them in cages for our entertainment. We have no right to kill them for our fashion and we have no right to hunt them just for our hobby. The truth is that even though humans may not have given anything to animals, humans have definitely taken a lot from animals. Instead we should be thankful to them We treat them cruelly. In the past, we have seen many times cruelty to animals, like in Kerala, a pregnant elephant had eaten a pineapple (fruit) filled with explosives, due to which the elephant died.It was later discovered that the fruit was planted to kill wild boars, a man in Madhya Pradesh jokingly threw a stray dog into a lake while another man recorded the incident, a man in Himachal Pradesh the news of feeding explosives to a cow came to light. The blast of the explosive was so powerful that the lower jaw of the cow was blown off. These are the incidents which reach us through different mediums, but there are so many such cruel incidents happening around us every day. We need to unite and raise our voice against these incidents, otherwise this trend will continue like this and the lives of voiceless animals will continue to be lost.It is not that there is no law against crimes against animals. Some necessary laws have been made at various levels considering the rights of animals, but due to our carelessness and ignorance, criminals remain far away from the reach of the law.
Let us know the laws that ensure the rights of animals. In India, two types of laws have been made to prevent atrocities against animals. (1) Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, it has been made to prevent cruelty and torture on any animal. This Act covers the maintenance of animals, their food and drink, bringing and taking them from one place to another, treating them There is a clear description about how things can be used etc. (2) Wildlife Protection Act 1972, it talks about the protection of wild animals and also the rights of zoo and circus animals are implemented under this act. Apart from this, there are different laws for the rights of animals in different states. If we talk about the Indian Penal Code, then Section 428 and Section 429 provide for punishment against atrocities on animals. According to this, the punishment is The period can be from 2 years to 5 years and fine can be imposed separately, now the thing to think is that if there is a provision of punishment in the law against animal cruelty then how can any chicken, fish, goat etc. Can eat? We get the answer to this question from our Constitution in which Article 21 gives us the right to live. According to this article, we get the freedom to eat and drink as per our choice.
In such a situation, according to Section 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, there is permission to kill animals for food, but it does not mean that animals should be tortured during this. PETA (People for the Ethical According to Treatment of Animals), according to food safety and standard regulations, those animals are mentioned which can be slaughtered for meat, this includes goat, sheep, chicken, fish, buffalo etc. There are different lists regarding slaughter of animals in the states of India, like there is a ban on slaughtering cows in most of the states of the country, while there is no ban in some states of North East including Kerala, Goa. But keep in mind that according to Slaughter House Rules 2001, animals can be slaughtered for meat only in government recognized slaughter houses and it is mandatory for these slaughter houses to be away from rural areas.Also, sick and pregnant animals cannot be killed; before slaughtering animals in slaughterhouses, the health of the animal should be checked by a veterinarian. There should also be arrangements to ensure that animals get adequate rest; animals cannot be tortured while being slaughtered; one animal cannot be slaughtered in front of another. when so many criteria are followed before animals are being slaughtered to what extent is the religious sacrifice of animals are correct, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act does not consider religious sacrifice as a crime, but states have the right to decide on animal sacrifice as per their own has the right to. Although in most states there is no ban on animal sacrifice for food, the conditions of not torturing the animal during this period apply.
Author-Jyoti Arora, law graduate form Shri Ram College of Law Muzaffarnagar
