Last year, in May 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules 2017, drafted to ensure the welfare of animals in livestock and cattle markets. The rules were formed in compliance with an order of the Supreme Court (Gauri Maulekhi versus Union of India) to regulate livestock markets in order to curb illegal cattle trafficking and to address the cruelties in these markets.
Amongst many provisions which included proper housing facilities, feed storage area, veterinary care and use of ramps to load and unload animals at the market, the rules restricted the sale of cattle for slaughter at the market. This ensured traceability through the supply chain.
Soon after, a controversy followed thanks to the curb on the sale for slaughter. The controversial provision in the rule was stayed by the Supreme Court while the rest was still enforced. However, the MoEFCC withdrew the livestock market rules entirely.
This week, the new draft was published by the ministry responsible for protecting the environment, including animals, and it is disappointing, to say the least. The new draft undermines the very idea for which the rules had been laid down; that of preventing unnecessary cruelty to animals. It fails to address the most common and horrific cruelties that take place, from the time the animals leave the farms to the point of being procured.
Historically, these live animal markets or pashu melas have been selling livestock openly and without much thought to the animals themselves. Illegal transportation of animals, over-crowding in markets, failure to provide water, food or shelter to the animals brought and constant tethering of animals in a manner that restricts their movement are merely a few issues that plague these markets. Additionally, these markets do not have any facilities even for providing water, let alone veterinary care.
All across the country, and largely in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, there are numerous unregulated and illegal markets. The new draft rules fail to achieve the objective of preventing illegal trafficking by eliminating the formation of an animal market monitoring committee which would, through mandated record keeping, ensure accountability; in addition to establishing proper facilities to host live animal markets.
Case in point being that, rule two of the draft does not define the animals covered; whether cattle, poultry, steers, heifers and calves etc. Moreover, it refers to animal markets that are duly licensed or recognised under a State Act or any other law; neglecting to address the various livestock markets that are presently neither recognised nor licensed under any existing regulations.
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