Animals and our people need introducing the Animal Police
The Issue
Let us start to take a look at this by what has been mentioned in the website of the National Sheriffs’ Association, USA, which serves with the law enforcement education and training in USA- “… animal cruelty crimes can serve as a precursor to more violent crimes, as a co-occurring crime to other types of offenses, and as an interrelated crime to offenses such as domestic violence and elder abuse.” - That has been recognized as the outcome of the ‘Animal Cruelty as a Gateway Crime’ project supported by the U.S. Department of Justice. Not only this, researchers worldwide have many a times identified significant links between violence against animals and the simultaneous or subsequent abuse of people, especially women and children. Animal cruelty officers around the world also see child abuse, intimate-partner abuse, elder abuse. This amplifies the importance of the animal cruelty cases to be investigated more seriously. However, even if no link between abuse of animals and people had been found, animals do matter for the sake of their right to live as much as we do; their lives do matter for the sake of conserving Biodiversity; and thus they are entitled to be protected by law. It is already being practiced in India with the commencement of its first national animal welfare law, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960).
Why Police?
When crime is concerned, law enforcement becomes necessary. So, we got reasons for seeking general police forces — because they are experts in law enforcement. They are trained for the correct identification and collection of evidences. They are equipped with proper tools for self-protection and rescue operations.
The Officers don’t fully know what they are walking into or will discover while going for an investigation. Every cruelty case is emotionally troubling, and for us common people sometimes too horrific just to listen to. How difficult the job of the firsthand responders and investigators of any cruelty complaints can be, who not only have to listen, but to witness, document and even rescue the victims whenever possible, day in and day out. This needs tremendous mental and physical fitness, trainings to cope with those stressful environment and conditions.
Animal abusers harass, threaten and assault the rescuers and investigators on a regular basis, so risks are involved. They are mostly criminals by nature and practice. Animal Rescue Group workers, who are mostly NGOs, rescue the animals out of their compassion and emotion but lack the training to face and tackle these criminals and the physicality for self-protection. They become vulnerable to dangers out of their love for animals. Also, these NGOs run on donations, lacking the fund for manpower and other resources.
But why Animal Police?
Dedicated police officers for the animal-cruelty-specific cases would be experts on the subject matter. They would be thoroughly trained and equipped with essential knowledge about not only the law enforcement practices and protocols, but also with specialized knowledge about different kinds of animals, prior animal cruelty cases, behavioral patterns of the animal abusers and other demands of animal-cruelty investigations specifically. The officers in this unit might also need to handle domestic as well as wild animals (animals used in scientific research and farm/dairy animals are exempt from cruelty considerations in the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act 1960) in some situations, and to carry specific tools used for animal handling that often needs certain trainings.
They need to be decisive in the situations - where education or the locating of resources is more appropriate, and where strict actions or more serious penalties have to be executed. These need the necessary knowledge and networks.
It would take time to know and understand the animal related laws for an officer from the general police force who has never worked on such case before, and then to enforce them. It would in turn delay the investigation and give criminals the chances to get away with the evidences. A specialized and trained team can always maximize the efficiency and results to best utilization of resources.
They would frequently need to work with animal welfare organizations for animal care and transportation, as well as veterinarians who are crucially important for rescued animals’ medical examination, treatments, and at times forensic investigations for the detection of crime. This unit might need to collaborate with the pertinent provincial ministries and non-profits whenever required since at times regional differences and religious sentiments get involved while addressing the animal related crimes.
The officers might have to encounter people and cases who are not harming animals intentionally, but struggling with serious physical or mental health issues, housing and financial issues etc. who try to care their animals but lack resources, they need help themselves. Officers need to be able to identify and segregate who are criminals and who need education or help and connecting them with appropriate organizations to help them while handling these cases. Sometimes they might have to play the role of more of a social worker than of a police officer.
It is of extreme importance that the Officers must also be trained in the applicable Animal Protection Policies and Legislation in India and those law enforcement practices and protocols. India is one of the better-positioned countries in the global Animal Protection Index (API) 2020, created by an international animal welfare charity ‘World Animal Protection’, attaining the ‘C’ ranking in the index from ‘A’ to ‘G’. However, there is room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare, including the lack of adequate animal welfare laws. People convicted of crimes against animals often get away with only paying a paltry Rs 50 fine – the highest penalty for a first offence under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 until recently. Another issue is execution of those laws that we already have in place, due to many reasons - disparity between the number of police officers and the increasing number of crimes probably being one of them. Introducing animal police can help in strengthening the police force and in better execution of the animal protection laws.
The entire India is witnessing several heinous crimes on animals in the past few years. It has been just a week that another case of animal cruelty shook us when a pregnant elephant is brutally killed after being fed with pineapple filled with firecrackers that exploded in her mouth leaving her jaw broken and bleeding profusely and suffered for days before slowly dying in the river. Numerous other animal-cruelty cases are pending accross the courts, and justice delayed is justice denied!
This is truly the right time to finally build an effective model for handling animal cruelty. Introducing Animal Police in India would be the orderly and timely resolve to do this. Countries like Netherlands, USA have already established Animal Cops to exclusively deal with the animal abuse cases; New Zealand, Taiwan, South Africa and few other countries are working towards it.
The animals and people of India deserve no less.
246
The Issue
Let us start to take a look at this by what has been mentioned in the website of the National Sheriffs’ Association, USA, which serves with the law enforcement education and training in USA- “… animal cruelty crimes can serve as a precursor to more violent crimes, as a co-occurring crime to other types of offenses, and as an interrelated crime to offenses such as domestic violence and elder abuse.” - That has been recognized as the outcome of the ‘Animal Cruelty as a Gateway Crime’ project supported by the U.S. Department of Justice. Not only this, researchers worldwide have many a times identified significant links between violence against animals and the simultaneous or subsequent abuse of people, especially women and children. Animal cruelty officers around the world also see child abuse, intimate-partner abuse, elder abuse. This amplifies the importance of the animal cruelty cases to be investigated more seriously. However, even if no link between abuse of animals and people had been found, animals do matter for the sake of their right to live as much as we do; their lives do matter for the sake of conserving Biodiversity; and thus they are entitled to be protected by law. It is already being practiced in India with the commencement of its first national animal welfare law, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960).
Why Police?
When crime is concerned, law enforcement becomes necessary. So, we got reasons for seeking general police forces — because they are experts in law enforcement. They are trained for the correct identification and collection of evidences. They are equipped with proper tools for self-protection and rescue operations.
The Officers don’t fully know what they are walking into or will discover while going for an investigation. Every cruelty case is emotionally troubling, and for us common people sometimes too horrific just to listen to. How difficult the job of the firsthand responders and investigators of any cruelty complaints can be, who not only have to listen, but to witness, document and even rescue the victims whenever possible, day in and day out. This needs tremendous mental and physical fitness, trainings to cope with those stressful environment and conditions.
Animal abusers harass, threaten and assault the rescuers and investigators on a regular basis, so risks are involved. They are mostly criminals by nature and practice. Animal Rescue Group workers, who are mostly NGOs, rescue the animals out of their compassion and emotion but lack the training to face and tackle these criminals and the physicality for self-protection. They become vulnerable to dangers out of their love for animals. Also, these NGOs run on donations, lacking the fund for manpower and other resources.
But why Animal Police?
Dedicated police officers for the animal-cruelty-specific cases would be experts on the subject matter. They would be thoroughly trained and equipped with essential knowledge about not only the law enforcement practices and protocols, but also with specialized knowledge about different kinds of animals, prior animal cruelty cases, behavioral patterns of the animal abusers and other demands of animal-cruelty investigations specifically. The officers in this unit might also need to handle domestic as well as wild animals (animals used in scientific research and farm/dairy animals are exempt from cruelty considerations in the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act 1960) in some situations, and to carry specific tools used for animal handling that often needs certain trainings.
They need to be decisive in the situations - where education or the locating of resources is more appropriate, and where strict actions or more serious penalties have to be executed. These need the necessary knowledge and networks.
It would take time to know and understand the animal related laws for an officer from the general police force who has never worked on such case before, and then to enforce them. It would in turn delay the investigation and give criminals the chances to get away with the evidences. A specialized and trained team can always maximize the efficiency and results to best utilization of resources.
They would frequently need to work with animal welfare organizations for animal care and transportation, as well as veterinarians who are crucially important for rescued animals’ medical examination, treatments, and at times forensic investigations for the detection of crime. This unit might need to collaborate with the pertinent provincial ministries and non-profits whenever required since at times regional differences and religious sentiments get involved while addressing the animal related crimes.
The officers might have to encounter people and cases who are not harming animals intentionally, but struggling with serious physical or mental health issues, housing and financial issues etc. who try to care their animals but lack resources, they need help themselves. Officers need to be able to identify and segregate who are criminals and who need education or help and connecting them with appropriate organizations to help them while handling these cases. Sometimes they might have to play the role of more of a social worker than of a police officer.
It is of extreme importance that the Officers must also be trained in the applicable Animal Protection Policies and Legislation in India and those law enforcement practices and protocols. India is one of the better-positioned countries in the global Animal Protection Index (API) 2020, created by an international animal welfare charity ‘World Animal Protection’, attaining the ‘C’ ranking in the index from ‘A’ to ‘G’. However, there is room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare, including the lack of adequate animal welfare laws. People convicted of crimes against animals often get away with only paying a paltry Rs 50 fine – the highest penalty for a first offence under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 until recently. Another issue is execution of those laws that we already have in place, due to many reasons - disparity between the number of police officers and the increasing number of crimes probably being one of them. Introducing animal police can help in strengthening the police force and in better execution of the animal protection laws.
The entire India is witnessing several heinous crimes on animals in the past few years. It has been just a week that another case of animal cruelty shook us when a pregnant elephant is brutally killed after being fed with pineapple filled with firecrackers that exploded in her mouth leaving her jaw broken and bleeding profusely and suffered for days before slowly dying in the river. Numerous other animal-cruelty cases are pending accross the courts, and justice delayed is justice denied!
This is truly the right time to finally build an effective model for handling animal cruelty. Introducing Animal Police in India would be the orderly and timely resolve to do this. Countries like Netherlands, USA have already established Animal Cops to exclusively deal with the animal abuse cases; New Zealand, Taiwan, South Africa and few other countries are working towards it.
The animals and people of India deserve no less.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 4 June 2020