Due to lock down people carrying animals in their vehicles were harassed and stopped from commuting. Especially the pet owners, animal ambulances and the caregivers who were taking the sick and injured animals to the hospital or to a vet and were stopped by the cops. Also many pet owners were being stopped by the police from taking their dogs our for a walk and caregivers from feeding the dogs. Hence, a resident of Pune filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the High Court through advocate Harshvardhan Bhende.
Justice SC Gupte of the Bombay high court on Friday, 8th May 2020 directed the Maharashtra Govt to issue a clear directive to the state police not to stop any vehicle which ferries any injured or sick animal. To read about the full judgement kindly go on the link below:
Thereafter on 9th May Karishma Gilani an Animal Welfare Officer in Nagpur came out with a press release which said the following (pic in the post):
1 Any pet owner found abandoning his or her pet due to fear of COVID 19 shall be prosecuted
2 Any person found in any kind of cruelty towards stray dogs shall be prosecuted
Karishma should have taken this step long back but better late than never.
There has been another good development for the animals of Maharashtra. The secretary, Animal welfare Board of India, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying had sent letters to all the states saying that no pet shop or dog breeder can start their operations until they get themselves registered with their respective state animal welfare board.
In the light of this letter the Govt of Maharashtra on 12,th May has banned all pet shops and dog breeders until they get themselves registered with the state animal welfare board. This is indeed a good step taken by the govt. Also it seems to be the first state to honour the letter sent by the AWBI.
When will the other states honour this important letter?
When will the animal welfare officers of other states start making press releases like Karishma Gilani?