One of the biggest issues that stops us when we make a police complaint more than any issue on cruelty is our concern whether we have referred to the right laws and sections . While nothing is perfect, we felt that having a broad framework would result in a more effective complaint as well as a greater confidence to file from common citizens like you and me.
We therefore requested the kind legal team at FIAPO to help us with formats for the broad cases of cruelty . While ideally each case is unique, the level of hesitancy in what to write has caused so much delay and inaction, we thought we will at least try a broad template approach fof three levels of cruelty, as a start point.
General - tying up, hitting, not feeding etc
Injury and high cruelty - breeding & pet shop issues, torturing A dog
Extreme Cruelty resulting in injury and death - running over, poisoning, beating to death
The templates given should broadly fit the above. each have space for the left
Facts: here we write in detail about the cruelty . We state who why what how when and where- simple Statement of the facts and the impact and suffering. Give refs to video and photo with a google drive link when possible
Prayer: at the end there is a space for prayer ie what do we want. There we can ask for arrest, giving up of animal, seizing of car, strong action to be taken etc, or all of the above.
it is important for us to go ahead and fill up and share our complaint AT THE EARLIEST , even if it’s hand written. Get the acknowledgment and seal of the police station - they cannot refuse - and then Follow up on the FIR. If we Don’t, the case loses the power of immediacy and valuable time and impact is lost ..
The FIR follow up is key and they must give it yoh in a day maximum. Ensure that the FIR in Kannada covers the issue, which law under which crime it comes and ensures investigation.
Format I Template
FORMAT 1 – GENERAL CRUELTY
To,
Date:
SHO Police
………. City
Subject:
Dear Sir,
Facts of the case.
Laws:
Under Section 11(1)(a) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (1) If any person—
(a) beats, kicks, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering or causes or, being the owner permits, any animal to be so treated; or
(b) employs in any work or labour or for any purpose any animal which, by reason of its age or any disease, infirmity, wound, sore or other cause, is unfit to be so employed or, being the owner, permits any such unfit animal to be so employed; or
(c) wilfully and unreasonably administers any injurious drug or injurious substance to any animal or wilfully and unreasonably causes or attempts to cause any such drug or substance to be taken by any animal; or
(d) conveys or carries, whether in or upon any vehicle or not, any animal in such a manner or position as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering; or
(e) keeps or confines any animal in any cage or other receptacle which does not measure sufficiently in height, length and breadth to permit the animal a reasonable opportunity for movement; or
(f) keeps for an unreasonable time any animal chained or tethered upon an unreasonably short or unreasonably heavy chain or cord; or
(g) being the owner, neglects to exercise or cause to be exercised reasonably any dog habitually chained up or kept in close confinement; or
(h) being the owner of any animal, fails to provide such animal with sufficient food, drink or shelter; or
(i) without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances which render it likely that it will suffer pain by reason of starvation or thirst; or
(j) wilfully permits any animal, of which he is the owner, to go at large in any street while the animal is affected with contagious or infectious disease or, without reasonable excuse permits any diseased or disabled animal, of which he is the owner, to die in any street; or
(k) offers for sale or, without reasonable cause, has in his possession any animal which is suffering pain by reason of mutilation, starvation, thirst, overcrowding or other ill-treatment; or
(l) mutilates any animal or kills any animal (including stray dogs) by using the method of strychnine injections in the heart or in any other unnecessarily cruel manner; or
(m) solely with a view to providing entertainment—
(i) confines or causes to be confined any animal including tying of an animal as a bait in a tiger or other sanctuary) so as to make it an object of prey for any other animal; or
(ii) incites any animal to fight or bait any other animal; or
(n) organises, keeps, uses or acts in the management of, any place for animal fighting or for the purpose of baiting any animal or permits or offers any place to be so used or receives money for the admission of any other person to any place kept or used for any such purposes; or
(o) promotes or takes part in any shooting match or competition wherein animals are released from captivity for the purpose of such shooting;
he shall be punishable, in the case of a first offence, with fine which shall not be less than ten rupees but which may extend to fifty rupees, and in the case of a second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.
Further, the Animal Welfare Board of India issued guidelines dated 26th February 2015, for pets and street dogs and their caregivers and for Resident Welfare Association and Apartment Owner Association where it is mentioned that-
1. Beating and driving away street dogs is not allowed in any circumstances. The dogs can only be sterilized according to the regulations provided in the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001 and vaccinated. Then have to be released back in their original locations.
2. Animal cruelty is an offence under Section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Section 428 and 429 Indian Penal Code, 1860. It is a punishable offence with imprisonment of up to 3years and a fine.
3. Attempt to interfere with or harass persons who choose to look after and feed the community dogs may be equivalent to the very grave offence of Criminal Intimidation under the Indian Penal Code.
4. There is no law prohibiting any citizen from feeding street dogs. Citizens who choose to do so are only fulfilling their constitutional duty cast upon them by the Constitution of India.
5. Any aggression or hostility that the dogs may be subjected to may render them aggressive and hostile to humans. If the same happens, human aggressors shall be the ones to blame.
In Animal Welfare Board of India v. A Nagaraja, the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that The right to dignity and fair treatment is not confined to human beings alone but also extends to animals. Thus, they have the right against human beings not to be tortured and against the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering. Compassion to living creatures denotes that cruelty to any living creatures must be curbed.
It is, therefore, we request you:
Prayer
—-—
We are looking forward to hearing from you
truly
Format 2 Template
FORMAT 2 – HIGHER CRUELTY
To, Date:
SHO Police
………. City
Subject:
Dear Sir,
Facts of the case.
Laws:
According to Article 51-A(g) of the Constitution of India, it shall be the duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures. The residents feeding the stray cats and dogs fulfilled their constitutional duty provided in the Constitution of India. Animal Welfare Board of India issued guidelines dated 26th February 2015, for pets and street dogs and their caregivers and for Resident Welfare Association and Apartment Owner Association where it is mentioned that-
1. Beating and driving away street dogs is not allowed in any circumstances. The dogs can only be sterilized according to the regulations provided in the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001 and vaccinated. Then have to be released back in their original locations.
2. Animal cruelty is an offence under Section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Section 428 and 429 Indian Penal Code, 1860. It is a punishable offence with imprisonment of up to 3years and a fine.
3. Attempt to interfere with or harass persons who choose to look after and feed the community dogs may be equivalent to the very grave offence of Criminal Intimidation under the Indian Penal Code.
4. There is no law prohibiting any citizen from feeding street dogs. Citizens who choose to do so are only fulfilling their constitutional duty cast upon them by the Constitution of India.
5. Any aggression or hostility that the dogs may be subjected to may render them aggressive and hostile to humans. If the same happens, human aggressors shall be the ones to blame.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeders) Rules, 2018:
1. Rule 8(1): “Every breeder shall ensure that-
a) pups less than eight weeks in age are not sold;
d) only dogs in good health that have been provided with the medical inoculations are sold;
e) each pup sold is micro-chipped and complete record of treatment and vaccination is maintained;
g) receipt for sale is provided to each purchaser, and copy thereof is retained with the micro-chip number of the pup sold and name, address and phone number of the purchaser.”
2. Rule 9(4):
“Every breeder shall maintain health and medical records along with separate vaccination record, in Form V appended to the First Schedule, of each dog, whether male or female and of every pup in every litter and a copy of the records of any dog or pup that is sold shall be provided to the purchaser.”
3. Second Schedule, Rule 28:
The dogs at every breeding establishment shall be annually vaccinated against rabies (and preferably against canine distemper, parvo-virus, leptospirosisand viral hepatitis).
It is, therefore, we request you:
Prayer
We are looking forward to hearing from you
Truly,
Format 3 Template :
FORMAT 3 – DELIBERATE CRUELTY
To,Date:
SHO Police
………. City
Subject:
Dear Sir,
Facts of the case.
Laws:
Such incidents show the inhumane mentality of the human beings where they neglect in their constitutional duty provided under Article 51 A (g) of the Indian Constitution. Such brutality against animals is a crime under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Under Section 11(1)(a) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (1) If any person—
(a) beats, kicks, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering or causes or, being the owner permits, any animal to be so treated; or
(b) employs in any work or labour or for any purpose any animal which, by reason of its age or any disease, infirmity, wound, sore or other cause, is unfit to be so employed or, being the owner, permits any such unfit animal to be so employed; or
(c) wilfully and unreasonably administers any injurious drug or injurious substance to any animal or wilfully and unreasonably causes or attempts to cause any such drug or substance to be taken by any animal; or
(d) conveys or carries, whether in or upon any vehicle or not, any animal in such a manner or position as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering; or
(e) keeps or confines any animal in any cage or other receptacle which does not measure sufficiently in height, length and breadth to permit the animal a reasonable opportunity for movement; or
(f) keeps for an unreasonable time any animal chained or tethered upon an unreasonably short or unreasonably heavy chain or cord; or
(g) being the owner, neglects to exercise or cause to be exercised reasonably any dog habitually chained up or kept in close confinement; or
(h) being the owner of any animal, fails to provide such animal with sufficient food, drink or shelter; or
(i) without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances which render it likely that it will suffer pain by reason of starvation or thirst; or
(j) wilfully permits any animal, of which he is the owner, to go at large in any street while the animal is affected with contagious or infectious disease or, without reasonable excuse permits any diseased or disabled animal, of which he is the owner, to die in any street; or
(k) offers for sale or, without reasonable cause, has in his possession any animal which is suffering pain by reason of mutilation, starvation, thirst, overcrowding or other ill-treatment; or
(l) mutilates any animal or kills any animal (including stray dogs) by using the method of strychnine injections in the heart or in any other unnecessarily cruel manner; or
(m) solely with a view to providing entertainment—
(i) confines or causes to be confined any animal including tying of an animal as a bait in a tiger or other sanctuary) so as to make it an object of prey for any other animal; or
(ii) incites any animal to fight or bait any other animal; or
(n) organises, keeps, uses or acts in the management of, any place for animal fighting or for the purpose of baiting any animal or permits or offers any place to be so used or receives money for the admission of any other person to any place kept or used for any such purposes; or
(o) promotes or takes part in any shooting match or competition wherein animals are released from captivity for the purpose of such shooting;
he shall be punishable, in the case of a first offence, with fine which shall not be less than ten rupees but which may extend to fifty rupees, and in the case of a second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.
Rule 7(3) of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs), 2001 specifically states “All the dogs caught will be tagged for identification purposes and to ensure that the dogs are released in the same area after sterilization and vaccination”. Hence after the sterilisation process the street dogs shall be released in the same place from where they are picked and not be re-located.
Rule 6(2) of the ABC Rules, 2001 states, “If the Municipal Corporation or the local authority thinks it expedient to control street dog population, it shall be incumbent upon them to sterilize and immunize street dogs with the participation of animal welfare organizations, private individuals and the local authority.”
Rule 7(4) of the ABC Rules states, “The dogs shall be captured by using humane methods such as lassoing or soft-loop animal catchers such as those prescribed under the provisions of Prevention of Cruelty (Capture of Animals) Rules, 1979.”
Under Section 377 IPC, voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any animal, is punishable for imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years with fine.
Under Section 428 & 429 of the Indian Penal Code, committing mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless any animal or animals of the value of ten rupees or upwards shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Further, the Animal Welfare Board of India issued guidelines dated 26th February 2015, for pets and street dogs and their caregivers and for Resident Welfare Association and Apartment Owner Association where it is mentioned that-
1. Beating and driving away street dogs is not allowed in any circumstances. The dogs can only be sterilized according to the regulations provided in the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001 and vaccinated. Then have to be released back in their original locations.
2. Animal cruelty is an offence under Section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Section 428 and 429 Indian Penal Code, 1860. It is a punishable offence with imprisonment of up to 3years and a fine.
3. Attempt to interfere with or harass persons who choose to look after and feed the community dogs may be equivalent to the very grave offence of Criminal Intimidation under the Indian Penal Code.
4. There is no law prohibiting any citizen from feeding street dogs. Citizens who choose to do so are only fulfilling their constitutional duty cast upon them by the Constitution of India.
5. Any aggression or hostility that the dogs may be subjected to may render them aggressive and hostile to humans. If the same happens, human aggressors shall be the ones to blame.
In Animal Welfare Board of India v. A Nagaraja, the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that The right to dignity and fair treatment is not confined to human beings alone but also extends to animals. Thus, they have the right against human beings not to be tortured and against the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering. Compassion to living creatures denotes that cruelty to any living creatures must be curbed.
It is, therefore, we request you:
Prayer
We are looking forward to hearing from you
Truly,