The latest Motor Vehicle Act has proved to the nation that if there is a strict consequence to your actions, you will think twice before breaking the rules. So, while the country is in a rush to get their motor documents in order, there are other issues in India that need to be addressed in the same manner.
Several cases of animal abuse have been reported in the last few years. From stray dogs being massacred to being thrown off buildings for ‘fun’, we hear a brutal incident of animal cruelty every day.
However, the Constitution has laws set in order for people who commit these heinous crimes. But if only the penalty/fine and punishment will be serious enough, will people understand that there will be consequences for their actions.
There is not a single doubt about the fact that animal cruelty stems from a place of psychological disorders and these voice-less beings are suffering because of that.
But if we have serious laws with concrete punishments in place, maybe these disturbed people will not carry out the evil things they do to animals. If we can’t ‘fix’ them, at least we can prevent them from torturing animals.
Most people aren’t even aware of the penalties/fines that one can face if they cause any type of pain to an animal. It is because they are so negligible that no one bothers about it. That leads to hundreds and hundreds of animals being subjected to unspoken torture at the hands of these inconsiderate human beings.
Did you know the fine for poisoning an animal is as much as Rs 10 under Section 428 and Section 429 of the Indian Penal Code?
There is an additional punishment for up to two years in prison but we all know that never happens. The attacker is let off and is put back into society where he/she can repeat such nefarious activities.
When traffic rules needed to be set in place because people were evidently not caring about them, the government stepped up and drastically changed the whole picture. So, why can’t the same be done for animal cruelty laws since the number of such cases are on a rise with each day?
Recently, 90 dogs were found dead in Maharashtra with their mouths muzzled and their legs tied up. A crime of such intensity should be dealt with great seriousness and the culprits should be punished heavily. But if we don’t have the right laws in place, how do we expect anyone to take action against it so that this never gets repeated?
People go around abusing the stray dogs in their localities, going as far as kidnapping and murdering them. Animal activists raise their voices and protest and file complaints, but the laws let the culprits go free by merely paying a double-digit fine?
It’s simple human psychology — People won’t mess with something they fear and if they are scared of what could happen to them if they harm an animal, they probably won’t do it in the first place.
As an animal lover, a human being and someone who believes that we don’t have any right to inflict any sort of pain on another being, I hope that the government starts paying more attention to these laws too. The right and fair laws in the Constitution are capable of bringing a change and we need one right now.
