More Room in the Henhouse

There is an urgent need for improvement in the livestock industry.

Cages and indoor housing are often too small and are ill-equipped for the species being kept in them, with inadequate light and activities. There should be a law banning the keeping of livestock under these conditions.

The permanent use of cages and other containers should be banned if they restrict animals’ freedom to meet their natural needs. This also applies to permanent tethering of livestock and keeping animals in confined spaces.

Slaughtering and castration should be carried out as humanely and cause as little suffering as possible.

Castration and other major interventions should only ever be carried out under anaesthetic in future.

Banning Animal Testing

Rapid progress is being made with the development of alternative methods which can replace animal testing, and yet the number of animals being used for testing continues to rise.

A new approach is urgently required.

A law must be introduced imposing a general ban on animal testing. Exemptions should apply if they are required to control dangerous diseases and safeguard human health, with sound evidence being presented that no viable alternatives to animal testing are available. Furthermore, testing should only ever be carried out on animals which experience minimal suffering, with a universal ban on testing on primates.

Far more resources must be invested in the research, licensing and use of alternative methods which are often far more reliable than animal testing.

Protecting Our Pets

The number of stray dogs, cats and other animals is increasing; and there is no funding available anywhere in Pakistan to care for these animals. The care of ownerless animals has been left to their fate.

There is an urgent need to require the relevant authorities to no longer leave abandoned or ownerless animals and their progeny to their fate. A place must be found for them, for example in an animal shelter, so that they can be properly cared for.

In order to prevent the uncontrolled reproduction of stray cats or dogs, for example, the competent authority may require them to be neutered provided that this is in the interests of animal welfare.

Animal-Free Circuses

A law should be introduced banning the keeping of wild (i.e., undomesticated) species of animal in circuses or other travelling companies. These businesses generally cannot keep the animals in conditions which meet their complex needs, notably as regards appropriate care and accommodation that is suited to their natural behavior.

Only those species of animals may be permitted in circuses which can be kept in a species-appropriate manner. A “positive” list of these animals should be drawn up. A ban on the keeping of all other species should be introduced, with transitional periods being established, and the procurement of new animals and breeding by circuses should be prohibited.

Giving Animals a Powerful Voice

Animal welfare must be strengthened at both the federal and the provincial levels. The flaws in the implementation of current laws must be pointed out by all which occur at the expense of animal welfare.

At both the federal and provincial levels, animal welfare commissioner must be appointed, with rights to obtain information and inspect files in order to monitor the authorities with responsibility for animal welfare at their respective levels. S/he should also have powers to lodge formal complaints against violations of the law.