Delhi HC seeks Centre's reply on plea for humane methods of animal husbandry
Aug 14, 2020
New Delhi [India], Aug 14 : The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a reply from the Central government and others on a plea seeking directions to define the "prescribed manner" for painful animal husbandry procedures for cattle.
A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice on the plea, which sought directions to the Centre to make rules to abate cruelty to animals, and slated the matter for further hearing on September 15.
The plea, filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), requested that the rules mandate the use of anaesthetics prior to castration, the replacement of outdated practices such as nose roping with face halters and branding with radio frequency identification, and the breeding of hornless cattle, instead of dehorning or disbudding them.
It said that following advisories by the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in this regard, many state animal husbandry departments directed their veterinarians to implement the use of humane methods.
The plea also alleged that in the absence of an enforceable law defining, improving, and regulating these methods, animals continue to be treated cruelly during such procedures.
The petition pointed out that the current methods for euthanasia, in situations when it's cruel to keep an animal alive, as mandated by The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA), 1960, and when a massive number of animals are to be killed for the purpose of disease control, as mandated by the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009 - often cause tremendous pain and suffering to animals before death, in contravention of the principle of euthanasia and the mandate of the PCA Act, 1960.
It said that Section 11 of the PCA Act, 1960, defines the acts which amount to treating animals cruelly - however, Sub-Section 3 offers an exception and consequentially deems certain animal husbandry procedures, including the dehorning of cattle and the castration, branding, and nose roping of any animal, not to be cruel, provided that they're done in a "prescribed manner".
Section 38 of the PCA Act, 1960, gives power to the central government to make rules to define the method of euthanasia and prescribe the manner for animal husbandry procedures, it added.
