Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals (PCA) Act, 1960:
A doctor in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur allegedly tied a dog to his car and dragged it across the city.
- The doctor faces charges under Section 428 (mischief by killing or maiming animal) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 11 (treating animals cruelly) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
- If convicted under the PCA Act and found to be a first-time offender, he can be punished with a fine of Rs 10 to Rs 50. If it is found that this is not his first such crime within the past three years, the maximum punishment would be a fine between Rs 25 and Rs 100, a jail term of three months, or both.
- The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 defines cruelty to animals –– including acts of overburdening or overworking it, not providing the animal food, water and shelter, mutilating or killing an animal, etc.
- The Act has been criticised for being ‘speciesist’ (the assumption that humans are a superior species deserving more rights), for its quantum of punishment being negligible, for not defining ‘cruelty’ adequately, and for slapping a flat punishment without any gradation of crimes.
