A host of celebs including John Abraham and Virat Kohli have signed PETA India’s new petition calling on the government to strengthen animal-protection laws.
Pointing out to recent cases of abuse including the July 5 incident in which two students hurled a dog, Bhadra, off a rooftop and were released on bail, as well as a March 14 incident in which a police horse named Shaktimaan was fatally injured and lost a leg in an attack by a BJP legislator last month, PETA said that stronger penalties need to be enacted to prevent cruelty to animals.
“India’s weak and outdated animal-protection laws are a national embarrassment, as they do very little to prevent animals from being neglected, abused, or killed”, said PETA India Chief Executive Officer Poorva Joshipura in a release here.
“PETA India and its high-profile supporters are calling on the government to strengthen its penalties for cruelty to animals significantly and right away before anyone else gets hurt,” Shambhavi Tiwari of PETA.
PETA India has long campaigned to strengthen India’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which contains outdated penalties, such as a maximum fine of Rs 50 for convicted first offenders who abuse or even kill an animal.
The petition, endorsed by renowned personalities now calls on the government to ensure that people who abuse animals serve jail time, pay significant fines, receive psychological counselling, and are banned from interacting with animals, the release added.
Besides John and Kohli, many others like Jacqueline Fernandez, Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Raveena Tandon, Dr Kiran Bedi, Shikhar Dhawan, and Ajinkya Rahane have supported the cause.
Sourced from PTI, Featured image courtesy: www.youtube.com
