Animal Welfare Bill stuck in a 'black hole'

Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D. M. Swaminathan deserves plaudits for bringing a long overdue proposal to the Cabinet to ban animal sacrifices in Hindu temples. This, however creditable it may be, is only the beginning and it is now the duty of the Government to speedily draft the enabling legislation and for Parliament to pass it into law.

This ritualistic practice in the name of one of the oldest religions is decried even by Hindu religious groups. Credit is due to animal rights activists who took the matter to the highest Court in the land.

The gruesome sacrifices at the Bhadrakali Amman Kovil in Chilaw every year were a disgrace to humanity and successive Governments turned a blind eye to what some traditionalist termed “an ancient custom” to “appease the gods” and invoke the wrath of Goddess Kaliamma on their enemies. The temple was the site of a bloodbath of animals and birds to invoke harm on other human beings.

At the time, the activists could only cite the Cruelty to Animals Ordinance and the Butchers Ordinance and the violation of its provisions. The local Police, however, looked the other way. They were beneficiaries of the meat that was distributed by the temple.

The Law Commission had in 2006 drafted the Animal Welfare Bill which after many twists and turns, was passed by Cabinet in 2016. Pressure from certain groups (primarily the meat industry) had been a stumbling block. Even after Cabinet approval, the meat industry, including the poultry industry, and some professional veterinary associations continued to make representations relating to slaughter of animals for food consumption, transport of poultry, use of animals for experiments, de-population of poultry or destruction of animals for disease control) Then in 2017, the Rural Economy Ministry revised the Bill by adding a new clause which excludes the vast majority of animals from the scope of the Bill thus depriving them of the protection afforded to animals by the Bill. Now, the Bill is in the hands of the Livestock Ministry, a clear conflict of interest.

Over the years, lack of political will, bureaucratic indifference, vested interests and personal agendas have hampered the progress of the Bill. It is not only in Hindu temples that the slaughter of animals takes place outside the law. In the name of religious festivals, all local council and national laws are broken. Slaughter of animals takes place even in private homes for these festivals.

The WHO (World Health Organisation) has an alternate policy of CNVR (Catch- Neuter-Vaccinate-Release) and the sending of stray animals to the gas chamber is a thing of the past. Recently, the Kandy Municipal Council did the correct thing during the annual perahera season by rounding up stray cats and dogs when the city was filled with visitors who had come to watch the pageant. The animals were vaccinated and released to where they were picked up from after the pageant ended and the crowds had dispersed.

Some countries that do not have a socio-cultural heritage of showing loving kindness to animals as Sri Lanka claims to have, give Constitutional rights to animals as “sentient beings” with a Right to Life.

Meanwhile, the Government is purchasing 2,500 rifles to sort out the elephant- human conflict. To shoot whom remains the question, but that is another story.