Is India an Animal-Friendly Country?

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India as a country has indubitably excelled in diverse fields such as International relations, Economic growth, Climate change and many others, however, there is still one enormous flaw in our state’s legislation- Animal cruelty prevention laws. The greatest evidence of this assertion is that our foremost animal cruelty law(the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA)) was legislated 50 years back i.e. in 1960. And since then, it has never even been amended which entails that the monetary fines imposed for animal cruelty in 1960 still stand to date.

Animals in India have been reduced to inanimate objects. An array of animal cruelty cases are reported to PETA on a daily basis which includes cruelty towards animals kept in captivity for entertainment, cruelty towards pets and stray animals in the community, illegal killing of animals, etc. 

Between 2012 and 2016, more than over 24,000 cases of cruelty towards animals were reported under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. India has seen horrendous cases of animal cruelty such as beating and killing of a dog in Chennai in 2019, the death of Shaktiman, the police horse in 2016, poisoning of 50 stray dogs in 2019, and the latest, the barbaric murder of a pregnant Elephant in Kerala a couple of weeks ago. Some other callous cases of animal cruelty that gained the attention of public eye include a young man mercilessly killing a langur, attack on a stray dog in Junagadh by three men with a bamboo, torture and death of a monkey by Vellore medical students, cold-blooded murder of eight puppies by a Bengaluru woman, etc. And these are just a fraction of the many cases of animal cruelty.[1]

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This list of cases does not only include cases of animal abuse but also cases of bestiality on animals. Cases of sexual abuse of animals have become frequent in the last few years. Some of the recent cases include the filming of rape of a female stray dog in Jaipur, gang-rape of a pregnant goat by 8 men in Haryana, abuse of a female stray dog by a housing colony security guard, sexual abuse of a female stray dog by a 19 year-old-boy in a public toilet.[2]

One of the problems against having better animal protection is the alarmingly elevated rate of acquittal in crimes related to wildlife. National Crime Records Bureau 2014 reports indicate that 134 out of the 770 cases reported under the Wildlife Protection Act were arrested and only a few of them were convicted. The ratio has not improved since then. According to the latest data available of 2018, out of 35,196 cases reported under the environment-related offences, 782 cases were reported under the Wildlife Protection Act in the year 2018 from which only the accused of 10 cases were convicted making the total number of convicted cases 132 against the 80 cases where the accused were acquitted.[3] And to say this does not even include the data for the PCA Act,1960.  

Mumbai, the financial capital of India recorded 19,028 animal cruelty cases in the last five years. However, the available data compiled by the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) reveals that there were no arrests or convictions. The victims of these cases were pets, cattle, horses, fowl, goats, dogs, cats, birds, etc.[4]

Generally, in such cases, the corpses decompose before they a formal biological investigation is conducted and so the cause of death remains unproven. If the suspected person is caught red-handed, then in most cases the witnesses become hostile or the prosecution authorities do not show up in court. If the alleged persons accept that they are guilty, then they are convicted. If they deny the charges, they are usually acquitted as there is not enough evidence to prove the charge. Even if by chance the accused is proven guilty then there are administrative problems which leads to their acquittal or discharge. This behaviour overall reflects the lack of seriousness when it comes to animal cruelty cases and prosecution under the Wildlife Protection Act or the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. [5]

In first world countries like the USA, severe cruelty and abuse cases like these are investigated by top investigation agencies like the FBI. In India, unfortunately, such serious attitude is not seen in animal crime cases. Grave cases like the ones mentioned above remain with the local police station branch. They are not even forwarded to the crime department. CBI is far away from the picture. Many foreign countries have felt the necessity of protecting animals and have enacted stronger legislations for their welfare and it is about time India too equates the importance of animal rights with human rights.[6]

Even if the culprits are arrested and convicted, they walk away with minimal punishment like in the case of Bharat Amratlal Kothari v. Dosukhan Sindhi[7], where major cruelty on 1974 animals-goats and sheep congested in 8 trucks was reported and only a petty fine of Rs 50 was imposed on the defendants. Another example would be a horrific case a year or back where four people were convicted for beating up a cow. The criminals had to pay Rs 4,000 for their bail. But the local court charged them ONLY Rps. 50 each as per the law. They were repaid Rs 3800 as reimbursement and all the efforts taken to get them punished went in vain as they walked away by paying a meagre fine.[8] Another similar instance was when the Bengaluru woman who mercilessly killed eight puppies was discharged easily on a scanty fine of Rps. 1000. 

Section 11 of the PCA is the primary section which provides for punishment against specific offences which constitute cruelty on animals. It provides that kicking, beating, over-loading, torturing, over-riding, or any other act which causes pain or suffering to an animal is punishable. However, the punishment for these crimes is not even nearly adequate. If an offender subjects any animal to any of the acts mentioned under section 11 (1) (a) to (o) of the Act, he/she is liable to a fine that may extend to Rs 50 in case of the first offence. If the offender commits the offence again then he shall be liable to pay a fine of at least Rs 25 which can be extended to Rs 100 or imprisonment of not more than three months or both.[9] Since the punishment is so petty it fails to act as a deterrent to people. There is no proportionality between the quantum of the penalty and the graveness of the offences.

The rule of proportionality prescribes that the punishment for any offence should satisfy a two-fold purpose, i.e. fairness towards the offender and fairness towards the society. Both parallels evaluate the parameter of fairness, wherein the harshness of the punishment is measured against the severity of the crime committed. The present quantum of punishment of Rs 50 does not even come close to the definition of harsh punishment. The equation between punishment and crime does not balance itself. From the societal perspective, it cannot be said that the punishment imposed on the criminals is fair. Therefore, it does not pass the proportionality test which should be an indicator enough for the government to revise these laws. 

The failed proportionality test is not surprising, considering the fact that the law that exists right now is half a century old and it needs to be amended. Back in the 60’s Rupees 25,50,100...was considered a huge amount but today-in the late 2020’s this fine is the size of peanuts. This negligible amount may not even get you a decent cup of coffee in the present world.

There have been various bills introduced in the parliament over the years which aim at bringing welfare-driven and well-being oriented approach by toughening up the numerous animal welfare organisations while also widening the scope of the definition of animal abuse in consonance with the judicial decisions over the years to include all the modern types of crimes and increasing the quantum of the punishments by multiplying the old fines, under the PCA, by a factor of a thousand. Sadly, to this date, we are still stuck with the old act as none of these bills were passed by the parliament. The Supreme Court[10], PETA and animal right activists have been urging the government for more stringent laws but as things are in relation to animal welfare the thought of having a better law for animal protection seems more like a mirage than real.

The most plausible explanation for this is that when it involves animal cruelty, neither the legislature is too bothered nor the people of this nation generally. Had there been cases of cruelty against humans then thus far we would have witnessed actions qualitatively different but these actions can’t be seen when it involves appalling monstrous incidents of animal cruelty.

The Animal Protection laws in India are toothless and outdated letting animal abusers get away unscathed. The phrase "All lives matter" is no longer just a Twitter hashtag but a reality of the world, which makes it indispensable for our country to protect animals along with humans from abuse and torture. As rightly opined by the Supreme Court, Animals also have a right to live a life of dignity and respect.[11] It is time that the government follow its fundamental duty of protecting animals by amending the law in such a way that it instils fear of the most severe punishment in those who intend on committing such acts of cruelty.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

 By,

LawVastutah



[6] Supra Note 2.

[7] S.L.P. (criminal) No 198 of 2009.  

[8] Supra Note 4.

[9] Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1960.

[10] Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja & Others(CIVIL APPEAL NO.  5387   OF 2014).

[11] Supra 10.


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