To quote from the intoduction to Maneka Gandhi's book on the Animal Laws of India,

"Everyday the mail brings in letters from ordinary people who are ready to fight against a bear being dragged on the road or a zoo that keeps its animals badly, a dog being beated and chained, a poacher that serves partridge or venison or veal. We get letters from people who do not know how to file FIRs or which Act the specific cruelty comes under. It is not just young people who do not know. Teachers do not know that Dissection in schools is illegal if alternatives are available. The Municipal Corporation does not know that chickens cannot be carried stuffed in tempos and that small slaughterhouses situated in colonies are illegal. Policemen are the most ignorant; most of them do not know about any of the laws pertaining to animal abuse - starting from the ones in their own Indian Penal Code. District administrative heads know nothing about illegal cow trafficking laws or madaris. Politicians break their own laws.

However, I have seen that the moment the law is explained to all these people, action begins".

While there are several types of laws that prohibit various forms of cruelty to animals, or protect and preserve our natural environment, the two main and specific acts are

1. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960
2. The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972

Both these acts not only define various types of cruelty, but they also spell out the types of punishment, which can range from monetary fines to imprisonment upto six years for severe wildlife related offences. Every single animal or bird in this country is protected by these acts from abuse and cruelty, whether wild, captive or domesticated. Indeed, the WPA also protects the fauna of our country.

Most activists and lawyers agree that in themselves, these laws have been very well drawn up. The problem lies in their implementation, and that in turn stems from ignorance of the law, as Mrs. Gandhi has mentioned. The law enforcers sometimes are not acquainted with details of the animal laws, because this is not a high priortiy for them. That's why we hold training programs for them.

Follow this link to the Animal Laws Workshop.

Every ordinary citizen can help enforce the law, indeed there are provisions in the Acts which provide for citizen's arrest under certain types of circumstances. Furthermore, if you see a cruelty being committed before your eyes, there is nothing to stop you from going up to the offender and saying "You are violating section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and I am going to take you to the police station." Thereafter ofcourse you must know how to file an FIR at the police station, which is very easy to do.

Then again, not many people know that it's an offence to own or trade in wild animals or birds of Indian origin. Most of these feature in the restricted schedules of the WPA, including parrots, monkeys, and mynahs, and none can be kept in captivity without a licence from the Chief Forest Warden. Animal trophies such as skins, ivory, etc are all strictly prohibited.

If you want to help enforce the law, you will need

• To get a copy of the two Acts, from your nearest legal books vendor, or write to lynn@goaspca.com, and she could help you get one
• Enrol at one of the workshops on animal laws, but send in your interest email to lynn@goaspca.com right now
• To have plenty of guts and staying power!

The FAQ's section is a good starter kit, also click on Aparna Rajagopalan's presentation at the last workshop.