JOIN USKerala laws lack teeth to prevent animal cruelty, say activists
A dog was shot dead by a person in Thiruvananthapuram city in 2019. He repeated the same offence in next year as well. Another person who dragged a pet by tying to his two-wheeler at Koothatukulam on the suburbs of Ernakulam about 10 years ago was imposed with a fie of Rs 160 after a prolonged legal battle.
For these reasons, animal rights activists did not see much hope of effective punishment to the 62-year-old man in Ernakulam who recently dragged a dog by tying to his car in a bid to abandon it.
Unless the laws against animal cruelty are made stringent, there won't be much relief to the animals from the cruelty they face, activists say.
Ambili Purackal, founder co-ordinator of Daya Animal Welfare Organisation, said that the incident received swift action from the authorities only because it went viral on the social media. On the same day, a meat shop owner at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district inflicted deep injury on a dog with a knife injuring the dog critically, but the police did not act against the accused.
Latha Indira, a member of People for Animal in Kerala, said that a dog was found dead with it hands and legs tied using steel strings near Varkala on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram about two weeks back. The local police registered a case only after PFA members met the police higher-ups and pressurised.
Ambili and Latha said that apart from the feeble punishments warranted by the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA), there was a lack of awareness among police personnel about the need to initiate police action. Ambili said that the police often maintain that they were already burdened with crimes against people and don't have time to look into complaints of cruelty towards animals.
Even as many animal rights organisations initiated campaigns for enhancing the punishments for cruelty towards animals, any positive outcome was yet to come. At present, the fine for various offences against animals is only in the range of Rs 50 to Rs 500. The law warrants imprisonment for repeated offenders, but it is hardly enforced.
Latha said that the scant regard people had for the law was evident from the incident in Thiruvananthapuram in which a person allegedly shot a dog even after a similar case was pending against him.
Ambili, who initiated the rescue of the dragged dog in Ernakulam, said that she was pursuing many such cases of cruelty against animals over years and she did not receive a satisfactory legal outcome in any of the cases.
Hence she was not moved as the accused in the present case also obtained bail easily. His driving licence and car's registration were suspended as the incident triggered resentment in social media.