Animal Welfare A Timely Need For Sri Lanka
By Vositha Wijenayake –October 5, 2015
Vositha Wijenayake
As the Animal Day passed on the 4th of October, the issue of animal welfare seems to have gained a fair bit of attention as it rightly deserves. The country has seen its last amendment to the law addressing cruelty to animals in 1955, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance of 1907 under which welfare of animals is taken into consideration is over a century old, and needing urgent reforms with outdated fines, and the implementation being on a rare occasion.
“Cruelty to animals in Sri Lanka is evident and a key issue. It happens due to a lack of awareness and/or concern and sometimes it is deliberate; and the existing animal welfare framework is inadequate to protect animals from such inhumane treatment.” said Shiona Weerasekera, Secretary of the AWPA which is a member of the Animal Welfare Coalition of Sri Lanka.
In addressing animal welfare it is necessary to bring all animals within the definition of “animals” to which the law applies. At present Sri Lanka has a lot of urban wildlife, while the 1955 Ordinance applies only a domestic or a captured animal. This includes any bird, fish, or reptile in captivity. This further excludes animals which are not domesticated or caged.
“It is our culture to feed animals but there is no responsible ownership. The extent we care for animals goes merely to feeding them. We need to be more responsible towards animals, and should prevent cruelty to animals and need,” added Dr. Ganga De Silva, Director Operations at Blue Paw Trust.
Civil society organisations working on animal welfare have highlighted the need for reform of law in this regard, and a Bill to the parliament was presented in October, 2010. The new legislation proposed has as its objective to replace the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance of 1907, and to recognise duty of care for persons in charge of animals to treat the animals humanely, to prevent cruelty to animals and to secure the protection and welfare of animals, to establish a National Animal Welfare Authority and Regulations and Codes of Practice and to raise awareness on animal welfare.Read More
