Source:- vice.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have a friend who keeps adopting stray animals because this one time she read on someone\u2019s Instagram that a local Panchayat in her city was plotting to wipe out all street dogs by poisoning their food. But a recent order has made her and probably all animal lovers, ecstatic; the Punjab and Haryana High Court made history by\u00a0declaring that all animals are \u2018living persons\u2019\u00a0and have their own set of rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The order states that, \u201cThe entire animal kingdom, including avian and aquatic, are declared legal entities having a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person. All citizens throughout Haryana are hereby declared persons in loco parentis (responsible for a child in parents\u2019 absence) as the human face for the welfare\/protection of animals.\u201d It was passed on June 2 by Justice Rajiv Sharma, who had passed a similar judgment just last year in Uttarakhand against animal cruelty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This came in light of a case in which 29 cows were packed and transported in abysmal conditions from Uttar Pradesh to Haryana\u2014a journey of at least 600 kilometres. In an attempt to understand what the animals go through, Justice Sharma said, \u201cWe have to show compassion towards all living creatures. Animals may be mute but we as a society have to speak on their behalf. No pain or agony should be caused to the animals. Cruelty to animals also causes psychological pain to them. In Hindu Mythology, every animal is associated with god. Animals breathe like us and have emotions. The animals require food, water, shelter, normal behaviour, medical care, self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stressing that animals cannot be treated as \u201cobjects\u201d and \u201cproperty\u201d and are \u201centitled to justice,\u201d Justice Sharma, in an order on Friday, said, \u201cThe corporations, Hindu idols, holy scriptures, rivers have been declared legal entities and thus, in order to protect and promote greater welfare of animals including avian and aquatic, animals are required to be conferred with the status of legal entity\/ legal person\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice Sharma was also a part of the Uttarakhand bench which had earlier declared the Ganga and Yamuna rivers as living entities,\u00a0an order that was later stayed by the Supreme Court.\u00a0While this was a pretty cool judgment in favour of climate change activists and to save rivers from becoming dumping grounds of large corporations, it was overturned by the Supreme Court for not being sustainable and to protect the faith of the society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, this\u00a0new order includes a lot of good things for animals\u00a0across the states, from limiting the load of animals that pull vehicles to four people and preventing them from working in extreme weather conditions to even deciding the maximum distance and time the animal is allowed to walk for. They\u2019ve instructed that sharp objects like spiked sticks and harnesses cannot be used to avoid causing any kind of injury to the animal. They\u2019ve also asked for them to be granted the right of way. A few more necessary points\u00a0in a country known for inhuman treatment of animals:\u00a0Fluorescent lights to be attached to cart-carrying animals so people notice them at night, municipal bodies to provide proper shelter, the state to ensure they don\u2019t starve, and even veterinary doctors to treat any stray animal that is brought to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But umm how do you eat a \u2018legal person\u2019? And is this actually a victory for vegans across the country? Will animals having the same rights as humans mean they can\u2019t be killed and lead to the death of the meat industry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Down To Earth\u2014a science and environmental publication that decoded the similar judgment when it was passed in Uttarakhand\u2014pointed out that\u00a0the court has not declared animal rights, but rather extending the rights of living persons to them. This means that while most animal rights activists can fight for veganism or against animal testing, not all constitutional rights such as Freedom of Speech and Movement will be given to them. So even as bullock cart racing and other forms of animal cruelty have been struck down, the\u00a0vagueness with which the ruling has been declared\u00a0in terms of enforcement and implementation means the lines are all still blurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I associate Punjab to the land of\u00a0lassi<\/em>\u00a0and butter chicken, but turns out it\u2019s got the least number of non-vegetarians in the country, with Haryana following close behind,\u00a0according to a 2018 survey by IndiaSpend.\u00a0Slaughtering cows and even buffaloes has\u00a0already been banned in Punjab and Haryana for all purposes except exports\u00a0as per The Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 (which is applicable to the state of Haryana), and The Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, even though this order states that catching fish through harmful methods like bottom trawling and cyanide blasting would be disallowed, there is no explicit mention in the 106-page ruling against the slaughter of animals other than cows. In fact, the central Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, says that animals can be killed for food if they aren\u2019t subjected to unnecessary suffering. And the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, specifies the species that can be slaughtered include bovines, suillines, ovines, caprines, poultry, fish, and domesticated rabbits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n