Known to be an avid animal lover, BJP MP Poonam Mahajan is seeking to bring a Private Members’ Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and make it more stringent.
“The Act has failed to protect animals for more than decades now. Animal abusers have continued to take advantage of the obsolete Act and continue to inflict unfathomable amount of cruelty on animals and remain unpunished,” said Mahajan.
“Parliament, it is expected, would elevate rights of animals to that of constitutional rights, as done by many of the countries around the world, so as to protect their dignity and honour. Thus, there is an urgent need to amend the penal provisions of the Act in compliance with the judgment of the Supreme Court and to prevent the unnecessary pain and suffering to animals and to ensure that the Act is deterrent to animal abusers,” she said further.
The Bill seeks to replace penal provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 with increased penalty.
Mahajan, along with daughter Avika Rao, often advocates for the rights of animals on social media and promotes the ‘adopt, don’t shop’ policy.
She was the chairman of Maharashtra State Animal Welfare Board from February 2016 to January 2020. During her tenure, she passed several crucial resolutions on animal birth control centres, sterilization of stray dogs and protection of cows among others.
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