Prevention of cruelty towards animals
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960: duty of care, cruelty, experiments and performing animals
In one minute
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 protects individual animals from unnecessary pain and suffering. Section 3 puts a duty of care on every person in charge of an animal. Section 11 lists acts of cruelty.
In Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja the Supreme Court treated the Act as welfare law, held that jallikattu and bullock-cart races violate it, and read it with Article 51A(g). On 18 May 2023 a Constitution Bench upheld the Tamil Nadu amendment of 2017 that permits jallikattu, and disagreed with the 2014 decision (Animal Welfare Board of India v. Union of India).
Exam focus
- Frequency: Rarely asked
- Usually asked as: Short answer (4 to 6 marks)
Legal provision
- Article 51A(g): it is a fundamental duty of every citizen to have compassion for living creatures.
- Article 48: the State must organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines. It must take steps to preserve and improve breeds and to prohibit the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.
- Entry 17 of the Concurrent List: prevention of cruelty to animals. Parliament and the States can both make laws on it.
- Section 3: it is the duty of every person having the care or charge of an animal to take all reasonable measures to ensure its well-being. The person must prevent unnecessary pain or suffering.
- Section 4: the Central Government establishes the Animal Welfare Board of India.
- Section 11: treating animals cruelly.
- Sections 14, 15 and 17: experiments on animals and the Committee that controls and supervises them.
- Section 22: exhibiting and training performing animals.
Meaning and definition
The Act defines "animal" as any living creature other than a human being (section 2(a)). It protects the welfare of each animal. The wild life law protects species and habitats. This Act deals with the suffering of the individual animal, domestic or captive.
- Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960
- Duty of care (section 3)Reasonable measures for the animal's well-being.
- Animal Welfare Board (section 4)Promotes animal welfare and advises the Government.
- Cruelty (section 11)Listed acts, with fines and possible imprisonment.
- Experiments (sections 14, 15, 17)Allowed, but supervised by a Committee.
- Performing animals (section 22)Registration is required.
Detailed explanation
Step 1: the duty of care (section 3)
Section 3 is a duty on the person who has the care or charge of an animal, whether or not the owner. The person must take all reasonable measures for the animal's well-being and prevent unnecessary pain or suffering. The Supreme Court in Nagaraja held that section 3 is mandatory and gives animals corresponding rights, which the law enforces.
Step 2: cruelty (section 11)
Section 11(1) lists acts of cruelty. They include these.
- Beating, kicking, over-driving, over-loading or tortured treatment that causes unnecessary pain.
- Employing an animal unfit for work because of age, disease, wound or infirmity.
- Carrying an animal in a way that causes unnecessary pain or suffering.
- Keeping an animal in a cage too small for reasonable movement, or chained too long.
- Failing, as owner, to give sufficient food, drink or shelter.
- Abandoning an animal without reasonable cause, so that it suffers from hunger or thirst.
- Mutilating or cruelly killing an animal.
- Organising or keeping a place for animal fighting or baiting.
- Promoting or taking part in a shooting match where animals are released from captivity.
The Act, as amended by Act 26 of 1982, gives a fine of ten to fifty rupees for a first offence. For a second offence within three years it gives a fine of twenty-five to one hundred rupees, or imprisonment up to three months, or both. Check later amendments for current figures.
Example. A cart owner at Nashik loads a bullock far beyond its strength and beats it to make it move. This is cruelty under section 11(1)(a), and he also breaks his duty of care under section 3.
Step 3: the Animal Welfare Board (section 4)
The Animal Welfare Board of India is a body corporate. It promotes animal welfare and protects animals from unnecessary pain or suffering. Its functions include studying the law, advising on amendments and rules, and encouraging shelters, rescue homes and veterinary aid.
Step 4: experiments and performing animals
Section 14 says the Act does not make unlawful experiments on animals for advancing knowledge useful for saving life or fighting disease. Section 15 lets the Central Government constitute a Committee to control and supervise experiments. Section 17 makes it the Committee's duty to see that animals are not subjected to unnecessary pain before, during or after experiments. Section 22 says no one may exhibit or train a performing animal unless registered. It also bars exhibiting or training, as a performing animal, an animal that the Central Government has specified.
Exceptions and special rules
Section 11(3) and section 28
Section 11 does not apply to dehorning of cattle, castration, branding or noseroping in the prescribed manner. It does not apply to destruction of stray dogs in lethal chambers or by other prescribed methods. It does not apply to destruction of an animal under the authority of a law. It does not apply to preparing an animal for food, unless unnecessary pain or suffering is caused.
Section 28 says nothing in the Act makes it an offence to kill an animal in a manner required by the religion of any community.
Don't confuse: wild life law and cruelty law
| Point | Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 | Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 |
|---|---|---|
| Protects | Species and habitats | Individual animals from suffering |
| Main tool | Schedules and protected areas | Duty of care and a list of cruel acts |
| Constitution | Entry 17B, Article 48A | Entry 17, Article 51A(g) |
Inside the concept. A street vendor keeps a monkey chained in the sun with no water. This is a matter of cruelty to the individual animal.
Just outside it. A poacher kills a tiger in a reserve forest. The case is mainly one of wild life law, though cruelty law may apply.
Common mistakes
- Confusing Article 48 (cattle and animal husbandry) with Article 51A(g) (compassion for living creatures).
- Saying the Animal Welfare Board is a court. It is an advisory and promotional body.
- Forgetting that section 3 applies to anyone in charge of an animal, not only the owner.
- Treating the animals' rights in sections 3 and 11 as constitutional rights. The Court called them statutory rights.
Leading case laws
- Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja
Facts. The Animal Welfare Board of India challenged jallikattu and bullock-cart races as cruel to bulls. The Centre's notification of 11 July 2011 had banned bulls as performing animals.
Principle. The events violate the Act, and bulls cannot be used as performing animals. The Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, 2009 is void under Article 254(1). Sections 3 and 11 give animals corresponding rights and are read with Article 51A(g).
Why it matters. It is the leading case on animal rights and on the welfare standard of the Act.
How to write this answer in the exam
5-mark answer
- Constitutional basis: Article 51A(g) and Entry 17.
- Duty of care in section 3.
- Cruelty in section 11.
- Nagaraja.
10-mark answer
- Why a law on individual animals is needed.
- Constitutional provisions.
- Duty of care, the Animal Welfare Board, and cruelty.
- Experiments and performing animals.
- Exceptions in sections 11(3) and 28.
- Nagaraja and the comparison with wild life law.
Key points to remember
- Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960: unnecessary pain or suffering.
- Section 3: duty of care. Section 4: Animal Welfare Board. Section 11: cruelty.
- Sections 14, 15, 17: experiments and the supervising Committee. Section 22: performing animals.
- Article 51A(g): compassion. Article 48: cattle. Entry 17: Concurrent List.
- Nagaraja: jallikattu and bullock-cart races violate the Act.
Quick self-test
1. Which section is the duty of care?
Section 3.
2. Which section lists acts of cruelty?
Section 11.
3. Which Article makes compassion for living creatures a fundamental duty?
Article 51A(g).