By Janaka Perera
JHU (National Heritage Party) Parliamentarian Venerable Athuraliye Rathana placed the Animal Welfare Bill on the Order Paper of Sri Lanka's Parliament on Thursday February 19. The Bill provides the framework for the protection of animals from cruelty; to foster kindness, compassion and responsible behaviour towards these creatures and to establish a National Animal Welfare Authority; among other matters.

In another development the same day a significant amendment to the Animals Act, No 29 of 1958, was adopted in Parliament without a division. The Ministry of Livestock Development introduced this amendment by which the punishment for slaughtering cows and cow calves, including female Buffaloes and calves, has been increased from Rs. 250 to Rs. 50, 000 plus the imposition of three year sentence of imprisonment. Further any illegal use of a vehicle for transport of cows and female buffaloes for slaughter would result in the confiscation of both the animals and the vehicle.

The Animal Welfare Bill will now be referred to the respective Minister or to the Deputy Minister who is concerned with the subject of the Bill, for his report on the suitability of the proposed legislation. Upon the Minister's report being received (or if six months have elapsed from the date on which the Bill was referred to the Minister and no report has been made), the Bill will be tabled for the Second Reading. A Private Member's Bill can also be challenged in the Supreme Court regarding its Constitutionality within one week of it being placed on the Order Paper.
The Animal Welfare Bill has been long awaited particularly by the growing animal welfare lobby in Sri Lanka, as it seeks to replace the antiquated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance enacted by the British colonial Government, 102 years ago, in 1907. Its inadequate penalties e.g. maximum fine of Rs. 100 (less than one US Dollar) for a heinous act of cruelty to an animal has removed the deterrent effect of this legislation, in the current context, leading to poor enforcement of the statute. It was also a national embarrassment to Sri Lanka seeking to establish modern standards in all aspects of governance by rule of law.

'Mahinda Chintanaya' which contains President Mahinda Rajapaksa's election manifesto and upon which he won the public mandate to govern carries a solemn pledge by him to reform animal welfare laws, introduce modern standards in respect to care and protection of animals from cruelty, and thereby lessen the pain of non - human sentient beings who cannot articulate their suffering.
The Animal Welfare Bill aims to accept greater state responsibility for animals. It seeks to provide for the protection of animals from cruelty, to foster kindness, compassion and responsible behavior towards animals in the community and to establish a National Animal Welfare Authority with wide powers to deal with matters relating to animal welfare.

Some important features of the Bill are the recognition of a duty of care towards animals, creation of new animal cruelty offences with stringent punishments, requiring permits to use live animals for scientific purposes and provision for the appointment of Animal Welfare Inspectors to strengthen the investigation and prosecution processes with powers also to give directions to those in charge of any animal to ensure the welfare of the animal by giving the required care and medical treatment.
If enacted, the Animal Welfare Bill can be expected to inspire and generate a chain reaction in other Asian countries, particularly in the SAARC and ASEAN regions, to update their legislation incorporating modern standards in the way we treat and co-exist with other living creatures.
It was Mahatma Gandhi who said that a nation's greatness and moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.

The primary objectives of the Animal Welfare Bill are (a) Establishment of a separate National Animal Welfare Authority (b) Redefining the term 'animal' to include all animals, including strays (c) Inclusion of the clause 'Duty of Care,' which places an obligation on persons in charge of animals to see to the welfare of animals in their care (d) The appointment of animal welfare inspectors empowering them to take relevant action when necessary (e) Increase the maximum penalty for cruelty to animals to a Rupees hundred thousand maximum fine or three years in prison or both such fine and imprisonment (f) To introduce a statute to regulate the use of animals for scientific research (g) the right of any adult person (apart from the animal's owner) to intervene in court proceedings in the best interests of the animal, since under the present laws animals are treated as inanimate objects and (h) Banning home slaughter and permitting it only under supervised conditions in duly licensed slaughter houses.
The Authority will have Animal Welfare Inspectors working under it to enforce the law, under which anyone can lodge a complaint even against a neighbour if he or she cruelly treats an animal. The NAWA will be similar to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) of the United Kingdom.

According to Attorney at Law Senaka Weeraratna, who was a Legal Consultant to the Law Commission of Sri Lanka and was closely associated with the drafting of this Bill, currently Sri Lanka has perhaps the most antiquated legislation on animal welfare in the world. The governing statute is "The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance No.13 of 1907, which sets out various offences and penalties for mistreatment of animals. It was last amended in 1955 but is seldom enforced.
Under the current Sri Lankan law the maximum fine for cruelty to animals is a mere Rs.100, which was the same fine that was imposed in 1907! Although the prevailing law includes jail terms for such offenders, it is hardly enforced.

Former DIG (Crimes) H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya has said that even a fine of Rs.100, 000 has little effect on those who make huge profits from animal slaughter. Stressing the need for jail terms, he attributed the total disregard for the law by those cruelly treating animals to the weakness of magistrates. Although the prevailing law too stipulated jail sentences to offenders, it has seldom or never been enforced, despite the judges being fully aware that a fine of Rs.100 was no punishment. He emphasized that judges had to be briefed on this.
One of the inherent jurisprudential difficulties in achieving justice for animals through legal proceedings, according to Senaka Weeraratna, is that the animal is treated as a 'chattel' or 'private property' rather than as a 'person' in the eyes of the law. Consequently, third parties endeavouring to assist animals as their `next friends' are denied standing in court to enforce animal rights. The party which has standing is the owner of the 'property' (i.e. the animal) and in most instances it is the very owner who is the cause of animal cruelty against whom a complaint is made. To such people cruelty to dumb creatures is a way of life.

Animal Rights activists have questioned the attitude of the law, which has developed a legal fiction to enable inanimate or artificial entities such as companies to be treated a 'person' in a court of law. But the same law has been reluctant to use the legal fact of visible and fully alive and moving animals for purpose of granting recognition to these living creatures as `persons' in legal proceedings. They lament that though Sri Lanka is supposed to be a predominantly Buddhist country, several non- Buddhist Western nations are far ahead of this island in enacting animal welfare legislation.
Weeraratna expresses regret that Sri Lanka's law societies including the Bar Association of Sri Lanka have so far failed to evince any real interest in animal welfare issues in comparison to law societies in the USA, England and Australia which have been taking an increasing interest in providing legislative protection to Animals. Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is the best known example.

India's leading animal rights campaigner Maneka Gandhi welcomed the European Commission's proposal for creating a special "animal welfare" label for meat and fish products so that it would put more responsibilities on companies to ensure that they are getting their supplies from approved sources. Maneka Gandhi's column on Animal Rights under the caption 'Right to Live' is published weekly in Sri Lankan newspaper The Island. It is a major source of reference on modern day practices and standards concerning the well - being of animals.
Weeraratna observes: "Sri Lanka has a proud heritage on animal welfare. It is a historical record that would attract the envy of the rest of the world, given the march of the animal rights movement today in many parts of the globe. We must reconnect ourselves to this heritage."
- Asian Tribune -
