Pune Police Invite PETA India to Conduct Workshop for Over 100 Officers to Combat Cruelty to Animals
Police officers from all police stations of the Pune City Police came together at the Police Commissionerate in Agarkar Nagar yesterday, 16 April, to attend a workshop conducted by the PETA India. The initiative was supported by Advocate Sumedh Gaikwad, a Pune-based animal rights activist, and was conducted under the benevolent leadership of the Joint Commissioner of Police, Shri Ranjan Kumar Sharma, IPS.
Nearly 100 police officers, including police constables, head constables, assistant sub-inspectors of police, sub-inspectors of police, assistant police inspectors and police inspectors from all police stations participated in a three-hour long workshop. The workshop covered the provisions of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960; the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (as amended in 2022); Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and other animal relevant laws.
In 2021, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations released a report revealing that in the decade prior, nearly 500,000 animals – including cows and dogs – were victims of crimes.
Many violent criminals have a documented history of cruelty to animals. A study published in Forensic Research and Criminology International Journal warns, “Those who engage in cruelty to animals were [three] times more likely to commit other crimes, including murder, rape, robbery, assault, harassment, threats, and drug/substance abuse. The major motivations for engaging in cruelty to animals include anger, fun, control, fear, dislike, revenge, imitation, and sexual pleasure.”
PETA India has long campaigned to strengthen the PCA Act, 1960, which contains outdated, inadequate penalties, such as a maximum fine of only Rs 50 for convicted first-time offenders (although the BNS, 2023 prescribes stronger punishments). In a proposal sent to the central government regarding an amendment to the PCA Act, PETA India has recommended significantly increasing penalties for cruelty to animals.
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