New Delhi (Sputnik) — According to media reports the Indian Government may direct its environment ministry, a ministry currently overlooking animal welfare and prevention of cruelty to animals, to prepare a draft amendment to the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act with a provision to increase the current penalty set at mere Rs 50 (less than a dollar) to inflation-adjusted amounts up to Rs 6,000 ($84).
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The increase in penalty amount will act as a strong deterrent and will give strong teeth to the law, said the report.
💥 Good news! Progress on our #NoMore50 campaign. The Environment ministry is reportedly in the process of increasing the penalty for animal cruelty. Read full story- https://t.co/1u9QUsHEC8. pic.twitter.com/PRPh4kBATN
— HSI/India (@IndiaHSI) December 17, 2018
#nomore50 did u know that the maximum penalty for animal cruelty is just Rs 50? Join me in urging the goverment pic.twitter.com/uEDQWSWHX4
— Ritwik Bhattacharya (@ritwikbhatta) August 9, 2016
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Interestingly, some parliamentarians had gotten together and started a campaign in 2016 named as ‘No more 50' — an allusion to the paltry penalty of Rs 50 provided for in the Act.
According to the current provisions, the Section 11 of the Act states that a penalty of up to Rs 50 is to be levied against any person or group of persons engaging in any act of cruelty to animals. The definition of cruelty includes animal beating, torturing, mutilating, kicking or starving. Activists believe that the up to Rs 6000 penalty in the offing will serve as a credible deterrent against acts of cruelty meted to animals by humans.
