ANIMAL CRUELTY

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

DAMODARAM
SANJIVAYYA
NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY,
VISAKHAPATNAM
October 2016

Vernika
2013131

INDEX

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

SYNOPSIS........................................................................3
INTRDUCTION.................................................................4
ANIMAL RIGHTS.............................................................6
ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION........................................7
HUNTING AND POACHING.............................................8
CONCLUSION...................................................................13
BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................14

SYNOPSIS
Environmental Laws

TOPIC: Animal Cruelty: Legal and Environmental Perspective

SUMMARY
Humans have always considered themselves to superior to all other living beings inhibiting
the planet and enjoyed a dominant position over all others. This dominant position has often
been abused and cruelty has been inflicted upon animals. We often forget that with power
comes responsibility. We shall deal with the Indian statutes to protect animal, like Wildlife
Conservation Act, 1972 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1960. We shall also study
works of NGOs (domestic and international) towards protection of animals and landmark
cases on animal rights. We shall also look into convention on this subject matter, like
International Convention on Protection of Animal, 1988.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Whether our laws on animal protection adequate and implemented strictly?
Is protection of animal only our moral and ethical obligation or need to co-exist in an
inter-dependent ecosystem?
Whether we need to implement laws on animal protection more strictly?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Doctrinal Research

NAME: Vernika
ROLL NO.: 2013131
VIIth Semester (section B)
1.1.

INTRODUCTION
3

Animal cruelty takes many forms and many victims, but the end result is always the same:
animal suffering. Animal Cruelty cases make headlines around the world every day, whether
its the person who kills the neighbours cat, the hoarder of sick and dying animals or the
family whose freezing, starving dog is tied up outside in the middle of the winter. Animal
Cruelty has several types which may be one of Simple Neglect, Gross Neglect, Intentional
Abuse, Animal Hoarding, Organized Abuse, Ritualistic Abuse or Animal Sexual Assault.
Government, NGOs and individuals will have to stand to combat this menace of animal
cruelty.
1.2.

TYPES OF ANIMAL CRUELTY

Simple Neglect: This involves failure to provide adequate food, shelter, water, or
veterinary care to one or few animals, usually due to ignorance. This form of
animal cruelty is the most common around the world today. The most common
example of simple neglect found everywhere today is the case of dog owners
chaining their dogs around the neck without a dog belt and most times the dog is

kept stagnant at the backyard for hours if not days without proper shelter.
Gross Neglect: It can also be called wilful, malicious or cruel neglect. It is
important to make a distinction between simply failing to take adequate care of
animals and intentionally or knowingly withholding food or water needed to
prevent dehydration or starvation. Gross neglect is therefore the intentional act of
withholding food or water from an animal or group of animals. A typical example
of this type of cruelty is the case of people throwing away their sick dogs

callously, some leaving their dogs out in the cold or rain.

Intentional Abuse: Cases of intentional cruelty are the ones of greatest concern to
the general public and the ones more likely to involve juvenile offenders. There is
legitimate fear that the individuals involved in violent acts against animals present
a danger to the public. Intentional animal abuse is often seen in association with
other serious crimes including drug offenses, gang activity, weapons violations,
sexual assault and domestic violence and can be one of the most visible parts of an
entire history of aggressive or antisocial behaviour. Such cases are often easier to
prosecute than neglect or hoarding cases since the effects of the crime on the
victim may be easier to document and the intentionality of the offense is more

clearly recognized.
Animal Hoarding : This is the accumulation of a large number of animals and
failing to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care; to
4

act on the deteriorating condition of the animals; and to recognize or correct the
negative impact on the health and well-being of the people in the household.
Examples of animal hoarding cases are: the transportation of large numbers of
animals in an in-humane way, the keeping of birds and other animals in a very
poor and un-conducive environment, pigs and other animals kept to starve to

death at livestock farms etc.

Organized Abuse: Dog fighting and Cockfighting Blood sports such as dog
fighting and cockfighting have been singled out for special attention in the
anticruelty laws of the United States and the United Kingdom since their inception
in the 19th century. A glance at the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria
also reveals this act as a crime. This act involves the setting of two or more dogs,
cocks or any other animal in a fight circle and allowing them to brutally kill each
other for the sole purpose of entertaining the spectators. 2.6 Ritualistic Abuse The
phrase Occult and ritualistic animal abuse immediately evokes many disturbing
images: a cat nailed to a crucifix and burned, the head of a dog left on the steps of
a building with a piece of paper bearing a curse stuck in the animals mouth, a
goats throat slit as part of a ritual sacrifice. Few other crimes against animals
create such intense concern within a community. Most crimes in which animals
are killed or mutilated and left where they will be discovered immediately raise
fears of satanic or cult activity and concern about what other crimes the

perpetrators of such acts may have committed or be capable of.

Animal Sexual Assault (Bestiality): Bestiality is defined as an affinity, attraction
or sexual attraction by a human to non-human animals. This act of using an
animal for the purpose of sex as awful and nasty as it sounds and despite the fact
that most people believe this to be a sin committed against nature, the issue of
bestiality has been raising alarm across the globe including Nigeria. In 2011 San
Francisco Chronicle one of the largest news outlets in California had the picture of
a man making love to a dog on its headline; Sunday Tribune on the 17th of
October reported a case of a 32 year old man who engages in bestiality with goats.

2. ANIMAL RIGHTS
Compassion is the ultimate driving force behind animal rights
The origin of animal rights is unknown. Some claim that it started in ancient Buddhist and
Hindu text promoting a vegetarian diet for ethical reasons. The first public footstep into
modern times was in 1975, when philosopher Peter Singer published the book Animal
5

Liberation. One of the first organizations that served animal rights was the Animal Legal
Defense Fund, where a group of attorneys gathered and filed lawsuits that were
groundbreaking for animal rights. Several industries have been affected positively by the
animal rights movement. From agriculture to fashion to pet care, each industry has taken
steps to treat animals with a greater respect.
There have been nearly as many theories put forward as there have been philosophers.
They range from divine commandment to majority rule to pure self-interest. Some
philosophers even deny that there are such things as rights. In the interest of time, lets
take the pragmatic approach and just assume rights exist and that humans possess them.
Animal rights must then stand or fall on the ability to show that it is inconsistent or
irrational to grant rights to humans but to deny them to animals.
Do animals suffer pain?
Several years ago, a group of scientists and philosophers considered the issue of animal
pain. They came up with a list of 7 possible criteria by which the ability to feel pain might
be judged. These criteria include biological similarities in nerve and brain structure, and
behavioural responses to possibly noxious stimuli. While these tests do not provide an
absolute basis for identifying animal pain, they do serve as a useful tool for determining
the likelihood that living beings other than us feel pain.
Humans and animals

The use of high intelligence as a requirement for possessing rights such as life, liberty, and
freedom from torture is both inadequate and irrelevant. The same goes for all the other
characteristics usually put forward: language ability, tool use, tool creation, complex
emotions, altruism, etc. Besides being irrelevant, they have all been seen in some animals and
are lacking in some humans.
According to Jeremy BenthemIt was the ability to suffer that should be the benchmark of how we treat other beings. If
rationality were the criterion, he argued, many humans, including infants and the disabled,
would also have to be treated as though they were things.1

1 Benthall (2007), p. 1
6

He did not conclude that humans and non-humans had equal moral significance, but argued
that the latter's interests should be taken into account.
Charles Darwin was of the view
There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental
faculties, attributing to animals the power of reason, decision making, memory, sympathy,
and imagination2
Statute
Prevention of Cruelty on animals Act, 1960 establishes a Welfare Board for animals to
protect them from unnecessary pain and suffering. Section 11 of the act describes what
defines as cruelty towards animals. It also establishes that if owner fails to exercise
reasonable care and fails to provide them with food and shelter shall be cruelty towards
animals under this act.

3. ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION
Every year in Britain alone millions of animals suffer and die in laboratory
experiments. In the past, people had to rely on bland assurances that animal experiments
were strictly controlled, of enormous benefit, and, in any case, the scientists had the
welfare of the animals at heart, however animal experiments are not only unnecessary
but dangerously misleading . . . adding to the burden of disease.3
Opponents of animal research claim that most research is cruel and unnecessary and that
animals are poor models for human diseases. Defenders of animal research counter that
most experiments do not involve pain or suffering and that, according to the National
Association for Biomedical Research, virtually every major medical advance of the last
century has depended upon research with animals.4

2 Rachels (2009), pp. 124126

3 Robert Sharpe, The Cruel Deception, 1988
4 Excerpted from Joy Mench, Animal Research Arouses Passion, Sparks Debate, Forum for AppliedResearch
and Public Policy, Spring 1996. Reprinted by permission of the author.

In the United States, animal experimentation emerged as a public-policy issue in the 19th
century, largely through the efforts of Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). One of Berghs first efforts as head of the
ASPCA was to draft a statute prohibiting cruelty to animals in New York state.
Philosophers in the last 20 years have begun to seriously address the basis, nature, and
scope of our moral obligations to animals; they have yet to reach a consensus. The legal
status of animals is equally perplexing and contradictory. Not only does the definition of
an animal vary from one state to another, but the same animal can have a different legal
status (and also be treated differently) depending on the use to which it is put.
Although the committees generally follow the principles known as the Three R that
experimental procedures should be refined to minimize pain and suffering, the number of
animals used should be reduced, and animals should be replaced with animals lower on
the phylogenetic scale or with non-animal models whenever possiblecomplex questions
remain.
Statutes
Section 14 of the Prevention of Cruelty on animals Act, 1960 renders that no experiments
on animals for the purpose of advancement by new discovery of physiological knowledge
or of knowledge which will be useful for saving or for prolonging life or alleviating
suffering or for combating any disease, whether of human beings, animals or plants.
Animal Research is Vital to Medicine
Experiments using animals have played a crucial role in the development of modern
medical treatments, and they will continue to be necessary as researchers seek to alleviate
existing ailments and respond to the emergence of new disease.
In the mid19th century, most debilitating diseases resulted from bacterial or viral
infections, but at the time, most physicians considered these ailments to be caused by
internal derangements of the body. The proof that such diseases did in fact derive from
external microorganisms originated with work done by the French chemist Louis Pasteur
and his contemporaries, who studied infectious diseases in domestic animals. Because of
his knowledge of how contaminants caused wine and beer to spoil, Pasteur became
convinced that microorganisms were also responsible for diseases such as chicken cholera
and anthrax.5
5 From Jack H. Botting and Adrian R. Morrison, Animal Research Is Vital to Medicine, ScientificAmerican,
February 1997. Reprinted with permission

4. Hunting and Poaching

Hunting
It has been said that hunting is the most uncivilized and primitive activity in which a
modern person can legally engage. Therein lies ammunition for the biggest guns in the
anti-hunters arsenal; therein also lies its appeal to the hunter and the source of approval
by many sympathetic non-hunters. Hunting is one of the few activities that allows an
individual to participate directly in the life and death cycles on which all natural systems
depend. The skilled hunters ecological knowledge is holistic and realistic and involves
all the senses. An ethical relationship with wildlife relies on an appreciation of
ecosystems, of natural processes. Such an appreciation is gained through familiarity, over
time, with effort, curiosity, humility, and respect.
Poaching
Poaching has traditionally been defined as the illegal capturing of wild animals, usually
associated with land use rights.6 Wildlife poaching has negative side-effects that affect
local communities, wildlife populations, and the environment. It is a crime fuelled by a
lucrative black market trade of animal parts. The animal parts are sold as novelty items
and are sold for their medicinal properties.
Extinction
Extinction is the greatest threat to animals that are victims of wildlife poaching. In 2011,
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUNC) declared the Western
Black Rhinoceros extinct. This subspecies of the critically endangered Black Rhino was
poached due to the belief in the healing properties of its horn. The Sumatran Tiger is a
critically endangered species right now. It is poached and sold for its parts (skin, teeth,
bones, and claws. Poaching is more lucrative than other jobs that are available in the
region; a harsh reality faced by many individuals and communities.
Environment
Poaching is also dangerous to the environment. When the North American Gray Wolf was
on the brink of extinction, due to trophy hunting and poaching, the elk populations in
Yellowstone National Park soared. With no natural predator, the elk nearly ate the aspen

6 Webster, N. (1968). Websters New 20th Century dictionary of the English Language (2nd ed.).
Cleveland: World Publishing Company. p. 1368
9

tree to extinction. Now, because of the increasing populations of gray wolves in the park,
elk populations are balancing out and the aspen tree is recovering.
Our ecosystems are sensitive and must be preserved. The economic challenges of a
community can lead to poaching, which in turn can lead to endangerment (and in the
worst cases, extinction) of different species. We need various species of flora and fauna in
our environmental ecosystems so that it can maintain healthy and balanced. The survival
of our own species depends on it.
Statute
Section 9 of Wildlife Protection (India) Act, 1972 prohibits hunting of animals; section 11
and section 12 are exception to it. Section 11 permits hunting under following
circumstances:a) Animal has become dangerous to human life and property
b) Animal has become disabled or diseased beyond recovery
Section 12 allows hunting of animal for special purposes such as :a) Education
b) Scientific
c) Scientific management
i.

translocation of any wild animal to an alternative suitable habitat;

or

ii.

population management of wildlife, without killing or poisoning or

destroying any wild animals

d) Collection of specimens
i.

For recognised zoos subject to the permission

ii.

For museums and similar institutions

5. Animals in entertainment industry

Attitudes about our treatment of animals and the environment are changing; we are
beginning to realize that we do not have the right to exploit animals or nature. Animals
used in entertainment are exploited for profit. This is both unnecessary and unacceptable.
Children and adults alike must learn an appreciation and a respect for animals. The tricks
performed in anthropomorphic animal shows do nothing to achieve this goal, but instead
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reinforce the idea of human dominion over animals. Quite simply, confinement, cruelty
and abuse are not entertaining.7
Circuses with animal acts are suffering from an increasingly poor image as the public
realizes that they are outdated spectacles. Critically endangered animals such as
chimpanzees, elephants and tigers are forced to perform degrading and often fearprovoking acts. Many circuses are guilty of not providing the most basic of necessities,
such as adequate care and housing for the animals. Many methods used to train animals to
perform tricks involve physical punishment. Animals may be beaten into submission with
whips, metal hooks, wooden bats and clubs. Some are muzzled, choked with tight collars,
shocked with electric prods or have their teeth or claws removed to make them more
Manageable.
It is virtually impossible to provide an acceptable quality of life in circuses for animals
that are wild by nature. Their physical, psychological and behavioural needs are so
complex that the living conditions will always be inadequate. This situation is especially
hard on animals such as elephants, who enjoy complex social lives in the wild.
Veterinarians qualified to treat exotic animals are not common.
Statutes
Section 22 of Prevention of Cruelty Act, 1960 restricts use of animals for purpose of
training or exhibition under following circumstances:i. any performing animal unless he is registered in accordance with
ii.

the provisions of this Chapter;

as a performing animal, any animal which the Central Government
may, by notification in the official gazette, specify as an animal
which shall not be exhibited or trained as a performing animal.

7 Animals in Entertainment, an Animal Alliance of Canada publication at

www.animalalliance.ca/entertai.html, December 1997
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CONCLUSION

Almost everyone believes in animal rights, at least in some minimal sense; the real question
is what that phrase actually means. By exploring that question, it is possible to give a clear
sense of the lay of the landto show the range of possible positions, and to explore what
issues, of theory or fact, separate reasonable people. On reflection, the spotlight should be
placed squarely on the issue of suffering and well-being. This position requires rejection of
some of the most radical claims by animal rights advocates, especially those that stress the
autonomy of animals, or that object to any human control and use of animals. But this
position has radical implications of its own. It strongly suggests, for example, that there
should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, in scientific
experiments, and in agriculture. It also suggests that there is a strong argument, in principle,
for bans on many current uses of animals.
Man created our human rights of people and it is only man that uses this concept. The human
race needs to have the obligation to set limits for animal rights. The development of rights for
our animals should be an effective and a possible concept that can legally be looked at. We
must set a guideline for legal limits to humans when it comes to animals and their rights. If
not then there can be no way to prosecute legal issues that arise for those who overstep the
limits. Animals are vulnerable, defenceless and are controlled by us people to enforce animal
rights. For those that ignore the welfare of animals should need to be held responsible for
breaking the laws of animal rights.
Raising the issues of animal welfare is impossible to develop clear guidelines to judge by.
However the principle is no different between men and animal. Working out animal rights in
an actual practice that raise the concerns and role of ethics. Animals should be treated with
compassion. A right without compassion cannot be used as a justifiable action. Death holds a
clear position for animal rights. When we kill animals we need to make regulations so that
animals die a fast and painless death. By doing this will give the opportunity to those who eat
meat a way of knowing it is humane.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTICLES

Animal Research Is Vital to Medicine, Scientific American, February 1997

Robert Sharpe, The Cruel Deception, 1988
Excerpted from Joy Mench, Animal Research Arouses Passion, Sparks

Debate, Forum for Applied

Research and Public Policy, Spring 1996. Reprinted by permission of the

author.
Animals in Entertainment, an Animal Alliance of Canada publication at
www.animalalliance.ca/entertai.html, December 1997

13