In all holy books the first lesson given is to protect all those who are inferior or deficient than us. The message is also bold & clear that animals need utmost love, care & protection from the human beings because god has not given them the speaking power. But day by day the cruelty towards the animals is in increasing trend. More we are educated & civilized more we are indifferent towards the animals. Perhaps this shows our arrogance & aggression which we have acquired being the supreme creation of the Almighty.
In the cruelty to animals a state which bags a great heritage in almost all fields has the distinction of being in top infamous slot. No wonder that is West Bengal. It tops the list according to survey done by Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India. Almost seventeen thousand serious cases of beastly behaviour towards the animals have been reported from the state during 2006-07. During preceeding three years a total of forty-thousand cases of cruelty towards animals reported from Bengal. The amusing fact is that our very national capital stand next to West Bengal in animal cruelty & Uttar Pradesh stands third. In Delhi in last three years the incidents are 1389, 1572 & 1826 respectively. In Uttar Pradesh in last three years altogether 4000 cases have been reported. During the year 2006-07, 255 cases of animal cruelty has reported in Haryana, 79 in Kerala, 71 in Andhra Pradesh & 65 in Chattisgarh.
The number of persons convicted in this regard was highest in Uttar Pradesh followed by Delhi & West Bengal. The irony is the cruelty list is in one direction & the conviction list is just opposite. West Bengal being the highest offender, has convicted the lowest among the top three offenders.
The government has made provisions to check such incidents by the Preventions of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 which was enacted by Central Govt. to prevent infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering to animals. Even though this act falls in concurrent list of the Constitution, the appropriate law enforcement agencies are the state govts. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBA), the statutory body under the Ministry of Environment & Forests addresses all the state govts to enforce the provisions regarding cruelty to animals & book the offenders. But it seems adequate measures are neither taken by the Board nor the concerned state govts. Hence stringent actions must be taken to enforce the act in letter & spirit so that it amounts the same punishment which is given to human beings for cruelty to another human being.