Failure to set up SPCA in Mohali under judicial lens

Chandigarh, April 4

The alleged failure of the authorities concerned to establish/notify the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Mohali today came under the judicial scanner. Acting on a petition, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a notice of motion to the state of Punjab and other respondents. Justice Raj Mohan Singh also directed placing on record the present status of the SPCA in Mohali.

Among other things, the petitioner had contended in the petition that the respondent authority had failed to establish/notify the SPCA in Mohali district. Taking up the petition filed by the Mowgliaid Animal Welfare Society through counsel Anurag Chopra, Justice Raj Mohan Singh fixed May 16 as the next date of hearing in the case. Appearing before the Bench, Chopra contended that constructing infirmaries and animal shelters was a requirement in accordance with Rule 4(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Establishment and Regulations of Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Rules.

Chopra, in the petition, added there were 7,749 sheep, 5,954 pigs, 7,296 goats, 41,699 head of cattle and 1,16,311 buffaloes in Mohali district as per the 20th Livestock Census, 2019, report issued by the Punjab Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He added that the respondent authority miserably failed to act in the interest of animals, despite having “such a large amount of livestock /large animals, clearly necessitating the establishment/creation of the SPCA, Mohali”.

Chopra added that about 20 years had lapsed since the issuance of the Rules. “Yet, the same have not been followed and implemented in true letter and spirit by the Government of Punjab and the local authorities in Mohali as the formation/constitution of the SPCA at Mohali never took place…”