Executive Summary
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 is the main piece of animal welfare legislation in India. This Act recognises that animals can suffer physically and mentally, and is applicable to ‘all living creatures’. This implicit recognition of animal sentience is echoed in the country’s Constitution, which enshrines the principle of ahimsa and mandates to all citizens of India to ‘have compassion for living creatures’. Furthermore, the Government of India should be acclaimed for having banned various forms of entertainment using wild animals such as dolphins and the use of all wild animals in circuses in 2017. Since the API was first published, India has also banned the import of skins of reptiles, chinchillas, minks and foxes in 2017. India has also made progress in protecting animals used in scientific research, since the country banned the use of cosmetic products on animals in 2013, and banned the import of cosmetic products which were tested on animals in 2014, thus becoming the first country in South Asia to do so.
However, there is room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare. For instance, animals used in scientific research are exempt from cruelty considerations in the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act 1960. Furthermore, there is a lack of regulations regarding the rearing of farm animals, notably with unregulated urban dairy systems developing quickly with very poor welfare standards. Indian legislation also allows for religious slaughter to be carried out without prior stunning. Fur farming has also not been banned in India. The country also allows for the killing of stray dogs in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, though the Government encourages spay-and-neuter programmes in the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001. Additionally, Indian legislation allows the hunting of endangered species for a wide range of purposes, including collecting specimens for zoos and museums.
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is the central body responsible for animal welfare in the country. It should be highlighted that some members of the AWBI are from animal welfare organisations. Local Animal Welfare Boards also exist in the country. In 2018, the AWBI was moved from being under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to now falling under the responsibility of the Ministry for Agriculture. The National Institute for Animal Welfare, created in 1999, has the broad mandate to improve animal welfare through research, education and public outreach. The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) oversees the use of animals for scientific research and is in charge of taking all measures to ensure that animals are not subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering before, during or after the scientific experiment performed on them.
Regarding farm animals, the Government of India is urged to mandate humane slaughter for all animals, which requires unconsciousness prior to slaughter. Furthermore, the Government of India is strongly encouraged to ban the worst forms of confinement for animals reared in farming. The Government of India is highly encouraged to enact stronger welfare requirements to better regulate the spread of urban dairy systems. In addition, the Government of India is highly encouraged to fully ban fur farming, which is inherently cruel and causes pain, distress and suffering to animals. The Government of India is urged to outlaw the culling of stray animal populations, and to implement spay-and-neuter campaigns as a tool to control stray animal populations. The Government of India is also strongly encouraged to ban the use of all animals for entertainment. For example, at present, legislation only bans the use of wild animals in circuses. Overall, the Government of India is strongly encouraged to align its current legislation with OIE standards. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each Animal Protection Index (API) indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.