Kerala HC seeks Pinarayi Vijayan govt's take on state's animal welfare board composition

The Kerala High Court on August 2, Monday asked the LDF-led government to come up with suitable suggestions in line with composition of an animal welfare board for the state. The Kerala HC also mentioned that it was "sceptical" about a retired judge heading such a body. A bench of comprising of Justice A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice P. Gopinath asked the state government to go through the suggestions received from the Animal Welfare Board of India and then give its recommendations. It also asked them to go through the suggestions collected by the court-appointed amicus curiae.

Kerala HC on ‘In Re: Bruno’ case

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it on its own due to the recent gruesome killing of a dog named Bruno. Bruno was tied up and beaten to death by some people on the Adimalathura beach on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. As per reports, the abusers were 3 in number. As per reports, a complaint had been made with the Police. The Kerala High Court had then taken suo moto cognizance of this case. The court had directed that the case to be renamed as "In Re: Bruno as a fitting tribute to the hapless dog that succumbed to acts of human cruelty". Bruno was a black Labrador. The Bench for the hearing of Bruno's case constituted of the Union Fisheries Ministry, the Animal Welfare Board of India, the Kerala Chief Secretary, the State Animal Husbandry Department Secretary, the Local Self Government Department Secretary, the Kerala State Animal Welfare Board, the Kerala Police chief and the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

Kerala HC's previous directions in animal welfare matters

Previously, the court had issued several directions in this and several related matters. It included: reconstituting the state animal welfare board, registration of pets with local bodies and obtaining a licence and removal of posters by local authorities to keep pets chained or caged at all times. The bench had earlier asked the amicus curiae to take into account the suggestions of different stakeholders about the composition of a re-constituted state animal welfare board and present them in the court.

(IMAGE: PTI)