<div>The Bengaluru chapter of India Unites for Animals (IUFA), a nationwide movement against animal abuse, was launched on Sunday.<br /><br /> The movement’s single-point agenda is to get the Animal Welfare Bill passed by Parliament. <br />Jeny Leon Lopaz, a key organiser of the movement, said that they would start a mass signature campaign to stop animal abuse and submit a memorandum in that regard to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala. “There are cases of animal abuse in grape farming wherein dogs are culled and used as manure. There is large-scale dog culling in Dharmasthala and attacks on dog feeders,” Lopaz said. <br /><br />The movement will also undertake a campaign against the use of firecrackers this Deepavali. “Noise pollution harms not only humans but also animals at large. The Minister for Animal Husbandry, A Manju, has supported this cause. We’ll write to the chief minister, MLAs and MPs, too,” he added. <br /><br />In a press statement, the IUFA recalled the recent instances of animal abuse, such as the beating up of Shaktiman, the horse which died in Dehradun later, the flinging of a puppy from a terrace in Chennai and the burning alive of puppies in Hyderabad. <br /><br />Shockingly, the IUFA said, while animal rights activists struggle to file FIRs against animal abusers and get them arrested, culprits walk away by paying a fine of just Rs 50. <br /><br />According to the IUFA, existing laws such as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act that was passed in 1960 does not provide for hefty penal action against animal abusers. The Animal Welfare Board of India drafted the Animal Welfare Bill and submitted it to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2014. But the draft law is yet to be tabled in Parliament, it said. <br /><br />Activists are asking for better enforcement of animal rights laws and tougher punishment to abusers; greater accountability for lawmakers, according of tribunal status to the Animal Welfare Board of India and an end to interference in its functioning. <br /></div>
<div>The Bengaluru chapter of India Unites for Animals (IUFA), a nationwide movement against animal abuse, was launched on Sunday.<br /><br /> The movement’s single-point agenda is to get the Animal Welfare Bill passed by Parliament. <br />Jeny Leon Lopaz, a key organiser of the movement, said that they would start a mass signature campaign to stop animal abuse and submit a memorandum in that regard to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala. “There are cases of animal abuse in grape farming wherein dogs are culled and used as manure. There is large-scale dog culling in Dharmasthala and attacks on dog feeders,” Lopaz said. <br /><br />The movement will also undertake a campaign against the use of firecrackers this Deepavali. “Noise pollution harms not only humans but also animals at large. The Minister for Animal Husbandry, A Manju, has supported this cause. We’ll write to the chief minister, MLAs and MPs, too,” he added. <br /><br />In a press statement, the IUFA recalled the recent instances of animal abuse, such as the beating up of Shaktiman, the horse which died in Dehradun later, the flinging of a puppy from a terrace in Chennai and the burning alive of puppies in Hyderabad. <br /><br />Shockingly, the IUFA said, while animal rights activists struggle to file FIRs against animal abusers and get them arrested, culprits walk away by paying a fine of just Rs 50. <br /><br />According to the IUFA, existing laws such as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act that was passed in 1960 does not provide for hefty penal action against animal abusers. The Animal Welfare Board of India drafted the Animal Welfare Bill and submitted it to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2014. But the draft law is yet to be tabled in Parliament, it said. <br /><br />Activists are asking for better enforcement of animal rights laws and tougher punishment to abusers; greater accountability for lawmakers, according of tribunal status to the Animal Welfare Board of India and an end to interference in its functioning. <br /></div>
