Animal rights activists have begun collecting signatures for an on-line petition to be forwarded to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to bring about an early enactment of an animal welfare Bill.
The petition states that the antiquated legislation i.e. the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, No.13 of 1907, as the governing legislation to protect animals from the cruelty of human beings in Sri Lanka, is no longer acceptable.
“Sri Lanka needs to ensure that those who abuse and ill treat animals are severely charged with an offence which befits the crime,” the petition states.
Among other things the petition seeks statutory protection for animals and to that end, there is also a need to enshrine in the Constitution of Sri Lanka a duty to have compassion for living creatures as found in the Constitution of India.
Countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Japan, Sweden and India all have started to move toward a more enlightened consciousness and have created national laws protecting their animals, the activists said.
They said that Sri Lanka's track record in the field of animal welfare legislation and the effective enforcement of such legislation, since the country's independence in 1948, is, unfortunately, far from satisfactory.
”When celebrating the 2600th anniversary of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, we the undersigned call on the Government of Sri Lanka to update Sri Lanka's antiquated animal protection laws to ensure that all animals are protected,” the petition states.
The petition can be accessed on http://www.petitiononline.com/SLAWB/petition.html. |
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