DON'T BE CRUEL

[Guest guest]

Correction: I am the founder of the Compassionate Crusaders Trust and also the

Managing Trustee of the People for Animals Calcutta.

Thanks & regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

" www.animalcrusaders.org "

 

 

-

 

Wednesday, October 11, 2006 9:30 am

DON'T BE CRUEL

aapn , suparnaganguly, drkrishna,

vspcadeep, jeevdaya, rob,

ptoolsi, azamsiddiqui

 

> [image: Email This Page] <javascript:SendThisPage();> [image:

> Print This

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> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061011/asp/atleisure/story_6853219.asp

> Wednesday, October 11, 2006

> Don't be cruel

> Animal rights activists are upbeat about a recent Calcutta High Court

> judgement. But loopholes in the law continue to undermine the

> cause of

> animal welfare, says ** Animal wrongs: A calf

> beingdragged to be sacrificed to Goddess Durga

>

> When the Calcutta High Court delivered a judgement banning the

> sacrifice of

> animals in public view at the Kalighat temple last month, animal

> rightsactivists found a reason to celebrate. After all, the

> judgement came just

> before the World Animal Day on October 4.

>

> " The judgement is a step in the right direction, " says Debashis

> Chakrabarti,managing trustee of Compassionate Crusaders Trust, an

> animal welfare

> organisation based in Calcutta.

>

> Of course, there are several laws in the country to look after the

> interestsof animals, the most prominent among them being the

> Prevention of Cruelty to

> Animals Act, 1960. But activists feel that apart from the fact

> that this law

> is not implemented effectively, it is also open to abuse. " The PCA

> Act is a

> good Act but is not being properly implemented, " says Brindha

> Nandakumar,legal consultant to Compassion Unlimited Plus Action

> (CUPA), an animal

> welfare organisation based in Bangalore. At the moment, two

> petitions are

> pending in the Supreme Court of India concerning non-

> implementation of the

> PCA Act.

>

> The PCA Act also grants some exemptions. Section 14 of the Act states,

> " Nothing contained in this Act shall render unlawful the

> performance of

> experiments on animals for the purpose of advancement by new

> discovery of

> physiological knowledge which will be useful for saving of human

> life " .Moreover, Section 28 of the Act says, " Nothing contained in

> this Act shall

> render it an offence to kill any animal in a manner required by

> the religion

> of any community. " Activists feel that these two sections are open to

> misuse. As Dr Chinny Krishna, director of Blue Cross in Chennai,

> one of

> India's largest animal welfare organisations, points out, " Sadly, the

> biggest offenders in both cases are government institutions and

> municipalbodies. " He also emphasises that apart from the lack of

> enforcement, the

> major failure of the law is the extremely low levels of penalties

> prescribed.

>

> Raj Panjwani, a practising advocate at the Supreme Court of India

> and author

> of the book *Animal Laws of India* stresses that Section 28 of the

> PCA Act

> is open to interpretation and is not without its concomitant

> difficulties. " How does one define religion and the specific

> rituals required for animal

> sacrifice, " questions Panjwani.

>

> However, some lawyers do not see these sections as posing a threat

> to animal

> welfare. Gitanath Ganguly, advocate at the Calcutta High Court and

> executivechairman of Legal Aid Services, West Bengal, explains,

> " The express

> provision of Section 28 of the PCA Act is subject to Article 25 of the

> Indian Constitution that prohibits any religious action for the

> purpose of

> public order, morality and health. "

>

> It is also true that most people are ignorant of this law. " It is

> sad that

> 90 per cent of the lawyers in this country are woefully ignorant

> of animal

> rights laws, " says Pradeep Kumar Nath, founder of the

> Vishakhapatnam Society

> for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Nath cites a specific

> examplewhere the law is failing animals. " If we catch an

> overloaded lorry with

> cattle (overloading a vehicle with animals is illegal under the

> PCA Act),

> and file an FIR, seven out of 10 offenders go scot free with a

> fine of Rs 50

> or Rs 250 per lorry, " he says. Nath suggests that mobile courts

> should be

> set up to efficiently deal with cases of cruelty to animals.

>

> Some activists feel that the PCA Act should be used along with

> other animal

> laws to help Indian animals. Dr Sandeep Jain, state coordinator of the

> People for Animals (Punjab) and a former member of the Animal

> Welfare Board

> of India, says that cases of cruelty to animals can be dealt with

> under some

> sections of the Indian Penal Code. " Sections 279, 289, 428 and 429

> of the

> IPC can be used to deal with animal cruelty cases where the animal is

> crippled or dead, " he mentions. He also points out that the

> Prevention of

> Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, and the

> Performing Animal

> (Registration) Rules of 2001 can be of help here.

>

> Some, though, are of the opinion that for animal laws in India to be

> effective, the parameters of cruelty need to be defined clearly.

> SanjayUpadhyay, a Supreme Court lawyer and managing partner of the

> Enviro Legal

> Defense Firm in Delhi mentions that the PCA Act is liable to be

> misusedunless specific parameters are laid down to define what

> constitutes cruelty.

> According to Upadhyay, the exemptions should be treated as

> exceptions to the

> rule and not as integral norms. " It is important to understand the

> differentkinds of cruelty in order to take better legal action and

> to make the law

> more effective, " he says.

>

> Until that happens, we will continue to see animals being treated with

> contempt and cruelty — goats kept in cramped meat shops, cattle

> pullingoverloaded carts and chickens being slaughtered in public view.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Debashishda,

Many thanks for pointing it out since I

thought that you were a CCT trustee. The error is regretted. Regards and

best wishes,

 

 

Sincerely yours,

 

 

Ghosh

 

On 10/11/06, debasischak <debasischak wrote:

>

> Correction: I am the founder of the Compassionate Crusaders Trust and

> also the Managing Trustee of the People for Animals Calcutta.

> Thanks & regards,

> Debasis Chakrabarti

> " www.animalcrusaders.org "

>

>

> -

>

> Wednesday, October 11, 2006 9:30 am

> DON'T BE CRUEL

> aapn , suparnaganguly, drkrishna,

> vspcadeep, jeevdaya, rob,

> ptoolsi, azamsiddiqui

>

> > [image: Email This Page] <javascript:SendThisPage();> [image:

> > Print This

> > Page]<

> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061011/asp/atleisure/story_6853219.asp#>

> > http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061011/asp/atleisure/story_6853219.asp

> > Wednesday, October 11, 2006

> > Don't be cruel

> > Animal rights activists are upbeat about a recent Calcutta High Court

> > judgement. But loopholes in the law continue to undermine the

> > cause of

> > animal welfare, says ** Animal wrongs: A calf

> > beingdragged to be sacrificed to Goddess Durga

> >

> > When the Calcutta High Court delivered a judgement banning the

> > sacrifice of

> > animals in public view at the Kalighat temple last month, animal

> > rightsactivists found a reason to celebrate. After all, the

> > judgement came just

> > before the World Animal Day on October 4.

> >

> > " The judgement is a step in the right direction, " says Debashis

> > Chakrabarti,managing trustee of Compassionate Crusaders Trust, an

> > animal welfare

> > organisation based in Calcutta.

> >

> > Of course, there are several laws in the country to look after the

> > interestsof animals, the most prominent among them being the

> > Prevention of Cruelty to

> > Animals Act, 1960. But activists feel that apart from the fact

> > that this law

> > is not implemented effectively, it is also open to abuse. " The PCA

> > Act is a

> > good Act but is not being properly implemented, " says Brindha

> > Nandakumar,legal consultant to Compassion Unlimited Plus Action

> > (CUPA), an animal

> > welfare organisation based in Bangalore. At the moment, two

> > petitions are

> > pending in the Supreme Court of India concerning non-

> > implementation of the

> > PCA Act.

> >

> > The PCA Act also grants some exemptions. Section 14 of the Act states,

> > " Nothing contained in this Act shall render unlawful the

> > performance of

> > experiments on animals for the purpose of advancement by new

> > discovery of

> > physiological knowledge which will be useful for saving of human

> > life " .Moreover, Section 28 of the Act says, " Nothing contained in

> > this Act shall

> > render it an offence to kill any animal in a manner required by

> > the religion

> > of any community. " Activists feel that these two sections are open to

> > misuse. As Dr Chinny Krishna, director of Blue Cross in Chennai,

> > one of

> > India's largest animal welfare organisations, points out, " Sadly, the

> > biggest offenders in both cases are government institutions and

> > municipalbodies. " He also emphasises that apart from the lack of

> > enforcement, the

> > major failure of the law is the extremely low levels of penalties

> > prescribed.

> >

> > Raj Panjwani, a practising advocate at the Supreme Court of India

> > and author

> > of the book *Animal Laws of India* stresses that Section 28 of the

> > PCA Act

> > is open to interpretation and is not without its concomitant

> > difficulties. " How does one define religion and the specific

> > rituals required for animal

> > sacrifice, " questions Panjwani.

> >

> > However, some lawyers do not see these sections as posing a threat

> > to animal

> > welfare. Gitanath Ganguly, advocate at the Calcutta High Court and

> > executivechairman of Legal Aid Services, West Bengal, explains,

> > " The express

> > provision of Section 28 of the PCA Act is subject to Article 25 of the

> > Indian Constitution that prohibits any religious action for the

> > purpose of

> > public order, morality and health. "

> >

> > It is also true that most people are ignorant of this law. " It is

> > sad that

> > 90 per cent of the lawyers in this country are woefully ignorant

> > of animal

> > rights laws, " says Pradeep Kumar Nath, founder of the

> > Vishakhapatnam Society

> > for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Nath cites a specific

> > examplewhere the law is failing animals. " If we catch an

> > overloaded lorry with

> > cattle (overloading a vehicle with animals is illegal under the

> > PCA Act),

> > and file an FIR, seven out of 10 offenders go scot free with a

> > fine of Rs 50

> > or Rs 250 per lorry, " he says. Nath suggests that mobile courts

> > should be

> > set up to efficiently deal with cases of cruelty to animals.

> >

> > Some activists feel that the PCA Act should be used along with

> > other animal

> > laws to help Indian animals. Dr Sandeep Jain, state coordinator of the

> > People for Animals (Punjab) and a former member of the Animal

> > Welfare Board

> > of India, says that cases of cruelty to animals can be dealt with

> > under some

> > sections of the Indian Penal Code. " Sections 279, 289, 428 and 429

> > of the

> > IPC can be used to deal with animal cruelty cases where the animal is

> > crippled or dead, " he mentions. He also points out that the

> > Prevention of

> > Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965, and the

> > Performing Animal

> > (Registration) Rules of 2001 can be of help here.

> >

> > Some, though, are of the opinion that for animal laws in India to be

> > effective, the parameters of cruelty need to be defined clearly.

> > SanjayUpadhyay, a Supreme Court lawyer and managing partner of the

> > Enviro Legal

> > Defense Firm in Delhi mentions that the PCA Act is liable to be

> > misusedunless specific parameters are laid down to define what

> > constitutes cruelty.

> > According to Upadhyay, the exemptions should be treated as

> > exceptions to the

> > rule and not as integral norms. " It is important to understand the

> > differentkinds of cruelty in order to take better legal action and

> > to make the law

> > more effective, " he says.

> >

> > Until that happens, we will continue to see animals being treated with

> > contempt and cruelty — goats kept in cramped meat shops, cattle

> > pullingoverloaded carts and chickens being slaughtered in public view.

> >

> >

> >