On Friday, the Apex Court agreed to hear a petition which has sought declaring as cruel & illegal the use of artificial reproduction technique (ART) performed on animals without any proven bio-medical need. A bench headed by CJI SA Bobde issued notices to the Centre & others, including Animal Welfare Board of India & National Biodiversity Authority, seeking their responses on the plea against cruelty meted out to animals during the ART claiming it is unconstitutional.

Issue notice, the bench, also comprising Justice AS Bopanna & Justice V Ramasubramanian, said. The petition has claimed that ART performed on livestock/animals are violative of some provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act 1960, the Biological Diversity Act 2002, the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, & also the Constitution which mandates protection of environment & nature along with animals.

Reproduction is a basic natural & biological need as well as urge of all living beings, save & except monosexual organisms. No authority can arbitrarily trample or destroy the rights or needs of any living being including animals by means of policy or practice, which in itself against nature & natural principles, said the plea, filed by Madurai-based S Venkatesh. Bypassing & preventing the natural mating & artificially reproducing as a principle/policy is by itself cruel; not to mention the cruelty or pain inflicted by the artificial process & methods of reproduction in animals, it said.

It has also sought an interim direction that ART on livestock/animals, including but not limited to collection & extraction of semen from bulls & male animals, be stayed pending disposal of the petition. The plea said the Constitution has explicitly recognized the value of lives & welfare of animals, including when they are being used for meat consumption, & mandates that all living beings be treated with compassion & respect.

As per the National Dairy Development Board data, the number of artificial insemination performed in dairy animals was over 73 million in 2017-18 alone, it said. The petitioner has claimed that in the Budget speech 2020-2021, the Finance Minister stated that coverage of artificial insemination shall be increased from the present 30% to 70%.

Referring to the Dec 2019 written reply in Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, the petition has allegedthat in the last 5 year the Govt has incurred expenditure of over Rs 1,200 crore through Rashtriya Gokul Mission’ towards ART, including artificial insemination. ARTs contributes to environmental pollution; items & tools, including single use items, that are needed for ART are made of plastics, & similar eco unfriendly materials. The ART process, including preparation & storage, has couple dozen or so steps many of which are carbon foot print intensive & thus contribute to global warming & eco degradation, it said.

Referring to the alleged ill-effects of ART, the plea said in the US, it has led to extinction of variation & diversity in genetic resources in cattle which may have potentially led to increase in unhealthy & non-nutritious dairy products being produced. It said there had been a steep decline in the population of desi cattle’ in India, some of them are already extinct. While referring to the statistics from livestock census, it said that in the last three decades the population of desi bulls has decreased by a whopping 55 per cent & in the same period, population of desi cow has decreased from 90 per cent to 67 per cent.

Mating is a biological need & a natural process & thus interfering & encourage ART is cruelty meted to animals & in addition would adversely impact, among others things, the eco-system in mid & long run, & the impact could be irreversible, the petition said, adding that it is the duty of state to protect the rights of animals & safeguard their welfare. It alleged that indiscriminate ARTs are converting animals into just a reproducing machines & not treating them as living being. 

Source Link

Picture Source :