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Animal rights group in US to present bill to President
View(s):An animal rights group based in the US is to meet President Maithripala Sirisena on October 18th to hand over a petition signed by the public and bill supporting their cause.
The nonprofit organization – Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA) – operating to create awareness within the Buddhist community of the suffering of animals has gathered signatures from across the world and is calling for an Animal Welfare Bill in Sri Lanka to stop cruelty to animals.
The co-founder and president of DVA Bob Isaacson will visit Sri Lanka next week to meet the president. The DVA will also establish a Sri Lankan Chapter to reactivate the original petition that was signed in 2013, in a bid to garner more support from the public for the cause.
The DVA explained that Sri Lanka has had animal welfare legislation such as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance of 1907 since the British colonial period, but has failed to address cruelty to animals in modern times.
They said that this is proved by the maximum punishment given to a person found guilty of cruelty to animals, which is only Rs. 100.
DVA’s bill includes prevention of cruelty to animals, duties of the caretaker of animals and need to treat them humanely, establishment of a 16 member National Animal Welfare Authority, developing and strengthening policies and also the expansion of the existing enforcement mechanism with the appointment of animal welfare inspectors giving them police powers.
The organisation also called for the control of animal slaughter and standardisation in animal transportation to minimise cruelty.
The bill which was prepared by the Sri Lanka Law Commission in 2006, was presented to parliament in October 2010 but has elapsed over five years without being enacted, the DVA is therefore urging the government to enact the bill.