The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a reply from the Central government and others on a plea seeking directions to define the "prescribed manner" for painful mal husbandry procedures for cattle.
A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice on the plea, which sought directions to the Centre to make rules to abate cruelty to mals, and slated the matter for further hearing on September 15.
The plea, filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of mals (PETA), requested that the rules mandate the use of anaesthetics prior to castration, the replacement of outdated practices such as nose roping with face halters and branding with radio frequency identification, and the breeding of hornless cattle, instead of dehorning or disbudding them.
It said that following advisories by the mal Welfare Board of India and the Department of mal Husbandry and Dairying in this regard, many state mal husbandry departments directed their veterinarians to implement the use of humane methods.
The plea also alleged that in the absence of an enforceable law defining, improving, and regulating these methods, mals continue to be treated cruelly during such procedures.
The petition pointed out that the current methods for euthanasia, in situations when it's cruel to keep an mal alive, as mandated by The Prevention of Cruelty to mals Act (PCA), 1960, and when a massive number of mals are to be killed for the purpose of disease control, as mandated by the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in mals Act, 2009 - often cause tremendous pain and suffering to mals before death, in contravention of the principle of euthanasia and the mandate of the PCA Act, 1960.
It said that Section 11 of the PCA Act, 1960, defines the acts which amount to treating mals cruelly - however, Sub-Section 3 offers an exception and consequentially deems certain mal husbandry procedures, including the dehorning of cattle and the castration, branding, and nose roping of any mal, not to be cruel, provided that they're done in a "prescribed manner".
Section 38 of the PCA Act, 1960, gives power to the central government to make rules to define the method of euthanasia and prescribe the manner for mal husbandry procedures, it added.
( With inputs from ANI )