By Diyyansh Gupta
1st Dharmashastra National Law University
"These unnatural tricks make the animal vulnerable and more prone to fatigue which causes a grave danger to their both physical and mental health. Animals are physically abused by physical threats, blatant physical abuse, and the use of weapons and are made to do stunts."
TRAPPED IN CAGE – SUFFERING OF CAPTIVE ANIMALS
Animals are an important part of nature. Being a superior race doesn’t give us the right to exploit them for our benefit and their vulnerability for our entertainment. The animals which are deemed to be roaming and grazing in grasslands and forests are being made to do stunts just to provide a sense of joy to humans. They are being separated from their families, beaten up, and trained just to do what humans command. Slavery has ended but not the slave keepers, animals are been kept as slaves and the biggest place for this evil market is the “circus” where animals are seen as the tool to impress humans by doing stunts that they are made to do by harsh beating and other methods of training.
There are various laws that the government of India has passed for the protection of the rights of zoo animals:-
CZA circular banning elephants in zoos (dated 7 November 2009)
Guidelines for Care and Management of Captive Elephants, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ Project Elephant via letter number 9-5/2003 (dated 8 January 2008)
Guidelines of captive-elephant management issued by the Indian government, as outlined by Tamil Nadu’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (dated 20 September 2012)
Licensing of Farriers Rules, 1965
Performing Animal (Registration) Rules, 2001
Performing Animals Rules, 1973
Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009
The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002
Transport of Animals (Amendment) Rules, 2001
Wild Life Stock Rules 2003[1]
Despite these laws, there are instances of animal cruelty and these laws are not implemented properly which results in the suffering of the innocents. The Animal Welfare Board Of India is the apex body for implementing these laws and for checking the violations of these laws.
It is a rule under the Performing Animal (Registration) Rules, 2001 to register the animals with the AWBI used in circuses for their protection and to prevent their ill-treatment but it was found out in the research done by PetaIndia that there were a large number of unregistered animals used in the circuses which included e elephants, horses, mules, ponies, dogs, Persian cats, sheep, goats, goldfish, birds, emus, macaws, African grey parrots, cockatoos, green parrots, geese, pelicans, and ducks.
These animals are excluded from the circus record and there is no feeding, veterinary, or vaccination data available for the same which possess a high risk of cruelty to the animal and violation of the laws protecting it. It is a rule under Transport of Animals (Amendment) Rules, 2001 that the circus should maintain the feeding, health, species, and vaccination registers and should also update AWBI with the health assessment reports of the animals used and also circuses transport the animals without proper permissions and health checkups which possess a grave challenge to the laws made by the government.
Also, there are instances where animals are forced to perform unnatural tricks which are not easy for an animal’s basic instinct but they are beaten, dragged, and poked to perform these tricks. These tricks are illegal as AWBI provides for the tricks an animal could perform in its Annexure I of the registration certificate and the circus owners should abide by the same. Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2001, which state that “the owner shall train an animal as a performing animal to perform an act by its basic instinct.”[2] These unnatural tricks make the animal vulnerable and more prone to fatigue which causes a grave danger to their both physical and mental health. Animals are physically abused by physical threats, blatant physical abuse, and the use of weapons and are made to do stunts. This type of abuse leaves scars on the body of the animal, they are brutally tortured and are not provided with any medical treatment, and are left in pain. This abuse of animals is rampant despite the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, of 1960. This act prevents atrocities to be inflicted on animals.
No permanent veterinarians are kept in the circus for proper health assessments and daily medical checkups and also to provide urgent medical aid whenever needed to the animals. According to the law, a circus that has more than 10 animals should have a full-time veterinarian. Failure to comply with this regulation gives rise to punishment under Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2001. The circus owners just hire veterinarians to issue certificates before the transportation of the animals so as to get permission from the AWBI. Due to the lack of medical aid and proper treatment animals have impaired medical problems which cause grave danger to their life. Injured animals are forced to perform despite their improper medical condition which causes serious violations under The Cruelty on Animals act of 1960, The Performing Animals Rules of 2001, and the guidelines for care and management of captive elephants as elephants are the national heritage animal of India and has huge significance.
Animals are kept in inhumane conditions and are not provided with even the basic facilities to live, many animals are kept inhumanely in one shelter and are forced to live inside it. They are not given proper food and water on a timely basis and are dragged into hours of torturous training. Sometimes animals get so frustrated due to this that they start fighting with their cellmates or at worst bite themselves and then for this conduct are beaten harshly by their masters. Many times, due to these continuous atrocities animals die and these deaths go unreported, their carcasses are being buried secretly so as to hide them from the records of AWBI. Also, various circus owners to gain much more profit extract the important part of the animals like tusks, wings, and skin which is illegal in nature. Various cases of smuggling from the circuses can be witnessed which gives us insight on what worse can be done with an innocent animal.
Hence, Government should take strict actions by not only making the laws stringent but should do a blanket ban on the use of animals in circuses. There are many shows which are running without the use of animals and only adult humans perform, why should an innocent animal live his life in the darkness of a small shelter provided by a human, it has its own resources for living provided by nature. AWBI should take steps in this direction and should deregister all the animals used in circuses and should remove circuses under Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009 from the definition of “zoo collections” so as to protect the animals. Also, heavy fines and punishments should be inflicted upon the persons with retrospective effect. All the animals should be provided with proper rehabilitation in the sanctuaries and should be provided due care under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It’s high time that innocents should not be sacrificed just to provide a sense of joy to humans. The rights of animals should also be looked upon and should be respected in the same manner that the rights of humans are respected.
[1]Animals in Indian circuses - peta india (no date). Available at: https://www.petaindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IndiaCircusReport_A4_72.pdf (Accessed: February 8, 2023).
[2]Animals in Indian circuses - peta india (no date). Available at: https://www.petaindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IndiaCircusReport_A4_72.pdf (Accessed: February 8, 2023).
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