People For Animals - Chandigarh"Live and help live!"

An Act to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals and for that purpose to amend the law relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Eleventh Year of the Republic of India as Follows:-

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different states and for the different provision contained in this Act.

(b) "Board" means the Board established under section 4, and as reconstituted from time to time under section 5A ;

(c) "captive animal" means any animal(not being a domestic (Animal) which is in captivity or confinement, whether permanent or temporary, or which is subjected to any Appliance or contrivance for the purpose of hindering or Preventing its escape from captivity or confinement or which is Pinioned or which is or appears to be maimed;

(d) "domestic animals" means any animals which is tamed or Which has been or is being suffering tamed to serve some purpose for the use of man or which, although it neither has been nor is intended to be so tamed, is or has become in fact wholly or partly tamed ;

(e) "local authority" means a municipal committee, district board Or other authority for the time being invested by law with control and administration of any matters within a specified local area;

Owner but also any other person for the time being in possession or custody of the animal, whether with or without the consent of the owner;

(g) "Phooka" or "doom dev" include any process of introducing air Or any substance into the female organ of a mulch animal with the object of drawing off from the animal any secretion of milk;

(i) "street"includes any way, road, lane, square, court, alley, Passage or open space, whether a thoroughfare or not, to which the public have access.

(a) Beats, kicks, over - rides, over - drives, over - load, tortures or otherwise treat any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering or causes or, being The owner permits, any animals to be so treated; or

(b) [Employs in any work or labour or for any purpose any animal which, By reason of its age or any disease], infirmity, wound, sore or other cause, Is unfit to be so employed or, being the owner, permits any such unfit Animal to be so employed; or

(c) Willfully and unreasonably administers any injurious drug or injurious substance To [any animal] or willfully and unreasonably causes or attempts to cause any such drug or substance to be taken by [any animal]; or

(d) Conveys or carries, whether in or upon any vehicle or not, any animal in such a Manner or position as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering; or

(f) Keeps for an unreasonable time any animal chained or tethered upon an unreasonable short or unreasonable heavy chain or cord; or

(h) Being the owner of [any animal], fails to provide such animal with sufficient Food, drink or shelter; or

(i) Without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances which render it likely that it will suffer pain by reason of starvation or thirst; or

(k) Offers for sale or without reasonable cause, has in his possession any animal which is suffering pain by reason of mutilation , starvation, thirst, overcrowding or other ill - treatment; or

(l) Mutilates any animal or kills any animal (including stray dogs) by using the Method of strychnine injections in the heart or in any other unnecessarily Cruel manner; or;]

(1) confines or causes to be confined any animal (including trying of an Animal as a bait in a tiger or other sanctuary) so as to make it an Object of prey for any other animal; or

(n) [***] organizes, keeps uses or acts in the management of, any place for Animal fighting or for the purpose of baiting any animal or permits or offers any place to be so used or receives money for the admission of any other person to any place kept or used for any such purpose; or

(o) promotes or takes part in any shooting match or competition wherein animals are released from captivity for the purpose of such shooting; he shall be punishable, [in the case of a first offence, with fine which shall not be less than ten rupees but which may extend to fifty rupees, and in the case of a second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence With fine which shall not be less than twenty - five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.]

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), an owner shall be deemed to have committed an offence if he has failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision with a view to the prevention of such offence:

Provided that where an owner is convicted of permitting cruelty by reason only of having failed to exercise such care and supervision, he shall not be liable to imprisonment without the option of a fine.

(a) the dehorning of cattle, or the castration or branding or nose-roping of any animal, in the prescribed manner; or

(b) the destruction of stray dogs in lethal chambers or subscribe by Act 26 of 1982, Section 10, for 'by other methods with a minimum of suffering"; or

(e) the commission or omission of any act in the course of the destruction or the preparation for destruction of any animal as food for mankind unless such destruction or preparation was accompanied by the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering.

If any person treats animals with cruelty he shall be punished for the first offence with fine up to fifty rupees for the second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with fine up to one thousand rupees or with imprisonment up to three months, or with both.

Penalty of practicing phooka or doom dev. - If any person performs upon any cow or other milch animal the operation called phooka or [doom dev or any other operation (including injection of any substance) to improve lactation which is injurious to the health of the animal] or permits such operation being performed upon any such animal in his possession or under his control, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with both, and the animal on which the operation was performed shall be forfeited to the Government.

Destruction of suffering animals - (1) Where the owner of an animal is convicted of an offence under section 11, it shall be lawful for the court, if the court is satisfied that it would be cruel to keep the animal alive, to direct that the animal be destroyed and to assign the animal to any suitable person for that purpose, and the person to whom such animal is so assigned shall, as soon as possible, destroy such animal or cause such animal to be destroyed I his presence without unnecessary suffering, and any reasonable expense incurred in destroying the animal by ordered by the court to be recovered from the owner as if it were a fine:

Provided that unless the owner assents thereto, no order shall be made under this section except upon the evidence of a veterinary officer in charge of the area.

(2) When any magistrate, commissioner of police or district superintendent of police has reason to believe that an offence under section 11 has been committed in respect of any animal, he may direct the immediate destruction of the animal, if in his opinion; it would be cruel to keep the animal alive.

(3) Any police officer about the rank of a constable or any person authorized by the State Government in this behalf who finds any animal so diseased or so severely injured or in such a physical condition that in his opinion it cannot be removed without cruelty, may, if the owner is absent or refuses his consent to the destruction of the animal, forthwith summon the veterinary officer in charge of the area in which the animal is found, and if the veterinary officer in charge of the area in which the animal is found, and if the veterinary officer certifies that the animal is mortally injured or so severely injured or in such a physical condition that it would be cruel to keep it alive, the police officer or the person authorized, as the case may be, may, after obtaining orders from a magistrate, destroy the animal injured or cause it to be destroyed.

(1) If at any time, on the advice of the Board, the Central Government is of opinion that it is necessary, so to do for the purpose of controlling and supervising experiments on animals, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a Committee consisting of such number of officials and non-officials, as it may think fit to appoint thereto.

(2) The Central Government shall nominate one of the members of the Committee to be its Chairman.

(3) The Committee shall have power to regulate its own procedure in relation to the performance of its duties.

(4) The funds of the Committee shall consist of grants made to it from time to time by the Government and of contributions, donations, subscriptions, bequests gifts and the like made to it by any person.

(1) The Committee may constitute as many sub-committees as it thinks fit for exercising any power or discharging any duty of the Committee or for inquiring into or reporting and advising on any matter which the Committee may refer.

Duties of the Committee and power of the Committee to make rules relating to experiments on animals -

(1) It shall be the duty of the Committee to take all such measures as may be necessary to ensure that animals are not subject to unnecessary pain or suffering before, during or after the performance of experiments on them, and for that purpose it may, by notification in the Gazette of India and subject to the condition of previous publication, make such rules as it may think fit in relation to the conduct of such experiments.

In Particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for the following matters, namely:-

(a) the registration of persons or institutions carrying on experiments on animals;

(b) the reports and other information which shall be forwarded to the Committee by persons and institutions carrying on experiments on animals.

(2) In Particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, rules made by the Committee shall be designed to secure the following objects, namely:-

(a) that in cases where experiments are performed in any institution, the responsibility therefore is placed on the person in charge of the institution and that, in cases where experiments are performed outside an institution by individuals, the individuals are qualified in that behalf and the experiments are performed on their full responsibility;

(b) that experiments are performed with due care and humanity, and that as far as possible experiments involving operations are performed under the influence of some anaesthetic of sufficient power to prevent the animals feeling pain;

(c) that animals which, in the course of experiments under the influence of anaesthetics, are so injured that their recovery would involve serious suffering, are ordinarily destroyed while still insensible;

(d) that experiments on animals are avoided wherever it is possible to do so; as for example, in medical schools, hospitals, colleges and the like, if other teaching devices such as books, models, films and the like may equally suffice;

(e) that experiments on larger animals are avoided when it is possible to achieve the same results by experiments upon small laboratory animals like guinea-pigs, rabbits, frogs and rats;

(f) that, as far as possible, experiments are not performed merely for the purpose of acquiring manual skill;

(g) that animals intended for the performance of experiments are properly looked after both before and after experiments;

(h) that suitable records are maintained with respect to experiments performed on animals.

(3) In making any rules under this section, the Committee shall be guided by such directions as the Central Government (consistently with the objects for which the Committee is set up) may give to it, and the Central Government is hereby authorized to give such directions.

(4) All rules made by the Committee shall be binding on all individuals performing experiments outside institutions and on persons in charge of institutions in which experiments are performed.

(a) enter at any time considered reasonable by him and inspect any institution or place in which experiments on animals are being carried on; and

(b) require any person to produce any record kept by him with respect to experiments on animals.

Power to prohibit experiments on animals - If the Committee is satisfied, on the report of any officer or other person made to it as a result of any inspection under section 18 or otherwise, that the rules made by it under section 17 are not being complied with by any person or institution carrying on experiments on animals, the Committee may, after giving an opportunity to the person or institution of being heard in the matter, by order, prohibit the person or institution from carrying on any such experiments either for a specified period or indefinitely, or may allow the person or institution to carry on such experiments subject to such special conditions as the Committee may think fit to impose.

(b) commits a breach of any condition imposed by the Committee under the section;

he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, and, when the contravention or breach of condition has taken place in any institution, the person in charge of the institution shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be punishable accordingly.